Naruto: The Wolf and the Fox
by Kunaiswarm
Summary: AU: Naruto has always had a demon fox imprisoned in him. What happens when the fox is actually innocent of it's violent past? Will everyone forgive the fox and Naruto, and why am I hearing a mad cackle in the background, ... oh wait that's just Kefka. RXR
1. CH1 A Day in the Life of Naruto

A/N: This is a side story of mine ... it's quite long but i decided to start posting it here too. I don't own Naruto / it's characters / it's scenere / or it's story but i will follow it slightly ... not gonna spoil anything but when the crossover comes i don't own none of that either. enjoy

"Not this dream again," mumbled a blonde boy as he turned over in his sleep. This dream has been shown to this boy repeatedly for the past week now and he has wondered what it meant. Whenever he asked an adult they would just tell him to beat it and if he persisted then they resorted to throwing things at him. The boy got up out of bed because he could not get back to sleep. He thought about the dream he had had and thought that he would ask Iruka-sensei about it in school that morning.

He began to undress revealing a well-toned body. He was slightly muscular which showed that he worked out. This boy had wild and unruly blond hair and great blue eyes that showed complete innocence towards what he really was. The only two things that were unusual about him were the whisker marks on his face and the strange seal on his navel. Whenever he asked somebody about them they gave him the same reaction that he got when he asked about his dreams.

The boy stepped into his shower and turned on the water. The shower felt refreshing to the boy as he began to lather shampoo in his hair. Soon after he rinsed his hair free of the shampoo and began to wash the rest of his body. He took his time with this because of the fact that nobody else would need the shower anytime soon. For you see this thirteen-year-old boy has been living alone ever since he can remember. He was told that he had no relatives and the adults forbade their children to be his friend. He grew up sad and lonely and no child in the village knew why. Every time a child got close to the boy in any way an adult would drag that child away from him. The boy turned off the shower and got out to dry himself off. He then went to the toilet to relieve himself and left the bathroom soon after. He got dressed and headed over to his kitchen. The boy grabbed a cup of instant ramen out of his cupboard and began to make his breakfast. While the water was heating up he noticed a sign that he had made that hung over his bed. The sign read, "Ganbatte ne Uzumaki Naruto," in Japanese kanji. _Do your best Uzumaki Naruto_, the boy thought. There were many times when he wished that somebody would say that to him. Although he wished this it never came to pass. All the adults hated him except for some of the shinobi and a few of the civilians. A lot of the kids hated him even though nobody ever told the children why they should hate Naruto.

Naruto poured the now boiling water into his instant ramen cup and took out a pair of chopsticks. As soon as the ramen was ready Naruto began to eat it making as much noise as possible. The silence that consumed most of Naruto's life was deafening to him. As soon as he was finished he went to the bathroom to brush his teeth and then he got ready for school. Naruto knew that school did not start for another two hours but he had to get out of his apartment to listen to anything that might take his mind off of the silence. As soon as he opened his door he was greeted by the sounds of the birds that greeted the day.

Naruto liked the sounds that the morning sun always brought. Birds would be chirping and people would start their day. Naruto walked down to the base level of the apartment building and made his way to a secluded area of an abandoned park in the village. He lay down in the grass as he let the cool morning air blow over his face. With the tall grass that grew around him no one could see him unless they were standing right over him. Suddenly Naruto heard some noises that were unfamiliar to him. To Naruto any unfamiliar thing meant danger most of the time. Naruto continued to lie down and listened with all his might as he tried to determine what was making that noise. After a few moments Naruto recognized the sound and found out that it sounded like someone running through the grass. Just then Naruto heard a thump as something landed near him. He could hear soft breathing coming from his right. Naruto peered over the grass and saw a girl lying in the grass a foot away from him. Her eyes were closed so she did not notice Naruto looking at her. Naruto quickly hid as the girl began to open her eyes.

"That was fun," she whispered to the sky.

Naruto could tell by the color of the sky that he still had an hour and a half until school started. Naruto sighed a little too loud because the girl heard him.

"Wh-Who's there…?" asked the girl as she sat up. She looked to her left and right and did not notice Naruto. Instead of continuing hiding Naruto decided to make his presence known. Naruto got up and brushed the grass off of his orange and blue jacket and also brushed the grass off of his orange pants. He kicked the dirt out of his sandal-shoes and sat down.

"Sorry I didn't mean to startle you," said Naruto as the girl saw him with her pearl white eyes that had no pupils. Suddenly the girls white face went as red as a beet and she passed out.

Naruto quickly rushed over to the girl and caught her before her head hit the ground. He took off his jacket revealing a white T-shirt with the hidden leaf symbol on it. He placed the jacket on the ground and clumsily made it into a pillow like object with one hand. Naruto then placed the girl's head onto his jacket. Naruto looked the girl over to make sure nothing else was wrong and saw that she was wearing that gray jacket, black pants, and sandal-shoes that she always wears. Naruto brushed the girl's black hair from her face and waited for her to wake up. The girl, known as Hyuuga Hinata, always acted weird when she saw Naruto but this was the first time she fainted when around him. Naruto noticed that Hinata was starting to wake up after about an hour of waiting.

"Daijoubuga Hinata?" asked Naruto as she sat up.

"Daijoubu," she said while trying to take in what had happened. Hinata looked to her left and saw Naruto there without his jacket on. She looked down where she had been laying and saw his jacket.

"N-Naruto-kun what happened?" asked Hinata.

"Well I guess I surprised you when I got up and you fainted," replied Naruto as he scratched the back of his head. "I waited for you to wake up because I was worried that something might have happened to you if were alone like that … and the fact that if somebody saw me leave you like that they would get the wrong idea."

"W-What do you mean?" Hinata asked hesitantly.

"In case you haven't noticed, not many people like me," said Naruto as he turned his head toward the sky. "Going by what happened I'm guessing that you don't like me either," he said as he got up and left.

Hinata watched him as he left for the park. Her face was still red from when she fainted earlier. Naruto did not know this but there was one person in the village that actually liked him enough to want to be around him. That person was now watching Naruto as he left the park. Hinata's face returned to its normal pale white hue. Her eyes drooped as she thought how Naruto must feel every day with everyone hating him like that.

"I wish I was brave enough to tell him how I feel," said Hinata through a sigh as she calmed her self down. She looked around and noticed that Naruto had left his jacket behind. Hinata picked it up and brushed the grass and dirt off of it and quickly folded it as tenderly as possible. She got up with the jacket in her hands and ran after Naruto.

Naruto had just left the park when he realized he was missing his jacket.

"Nani what happened to my jacket?" Naruto asked himself as he started to paw at his upper body. "Oh no I left it back with Hinata," he said as he sighed and continued to walk to the academy, "oh well I'll just have to make another," he said while shrugging.

"You m-made this?" asked Hinata as she finally caught up with Naruto.

"Oh Hinata, did you get my jacket for me?" asked Naruto clearly not believing what he was seeing.

"Hai, Naruto-kun," she said as she handed him the jacket.

When Naruto smiled at Hinata she blushed and looked away.

"Hey Hinata, your face is all red do you have a fever?" asked Naruto as he placed his hand on her forehead. Hinata made a small sound that sounded like a squeak and batted Naruto's hand away.

"Sorry … I-I didn't m-mean to do that," said Hinata stuttering madly as her face got even redder.

"No, I shouldn't have startled you like that," said Naruto as he rubbed his nose. "Do you want to walk to class together?" asked Naruto as he thrust his thumb over his shoulder in the general direction of the academy.

_Is this really happening?_ Hinata thought _this is the best day ever_. "Hai," said Hinata as she nodded and they both started to head to the academy together. Naruto had put his jacket on and placed his hands in his pockets. Naruto didn't like the silence so he tried to start a conversation.

"Um … how is school for you?" asked Naruto. _Man that was a dumb question_ Naruto thought _we're in the same class. I know about as much as she does about school._

_Oh my god he is actually talking to me_ Hinata thought, as her face became a little red. "Um … s-school is fine, w-what about you Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked.

"Bah … I'm not that good at the stuff that's being taught right now," Naruto said as he scratched the back of his head.

"Do you mean the Bunshin no Jutsu and the Henge no Jutsu?" asked Hinata.

"No, no, no. Not the Henge no Jutsu just the Bunshin no Jutsu," said Naruto as he shook his head, "I just can't get the clone to come out right."

"What's wrong with it?" Hinata asked as her face returned to its normal color now that she was a little bit more comfortable with the conversation that was going on. Even though she became a little more comfortable with Naruto around she could still not muster the courage needed to tell him how she felt.


	2. CH2 The Test and the Secret

By the time Naruto had finished his conversation with Hinata they had reached the academy. The academy teacher, the chuunin Iruka-sensei, was standing next to the door with someone unfamiliar to Naruto.

"Well, well, well this is new. Naruto and Hinata coming to school together," implied Iruka-sensei.

Hinata quickly buried her face in her hands but not before everyone could see that her face had turned as red as a beet. Naruto blushed as well but yelled at Iruka-sensei.

"It's not like that Iruka-sensei," said Naruto in his normal exuberant mood.

"Okay, okay," said Iruka-sensei feigning defeat.

"Who's the other guy with you Iruka-sensei?" asked Naruto cocking his head toward the chuunin with the blue-white hair.

"This is Mizuki, he will be helping me with the genin test today," said Iruka-sensei as he filtered through some papers on his clipboard.

Naruto and Hinata walked inside and sat down next to each other in the front of the room. The room began to fill up with the other students from the class. The students that sat in the back were from the lesser known families of the village and usually did not participate that much in class. The others from that sat in the front of the class were from the better known families of the village but they still kept their distance from Naruto. In class Naruto and a group of other kids were known to pull pranks at any given moment in time. Most of the students needed to keep on their guard in order to dodge anything that originated from Naruto. Naruto only pulled these pranks to be noticed though. Anything he could do to get rid of the silence in class he normally would do. He despised how almost all the villagers hated him but he never showed it. He always had a goofy smile on and anyone that saw him would think he was the happiest person in the world. Only Naruto himself knew the smile was faked.

Soon the class was full of students and the two instructors entered the room. The room suddenly went silent. Everyone looked towards the front of the room and noticed Hinata sitting next to Naruto. This was something that was never seen before. No one sat close to Naruto if they could help it and no one expected anyone to willingly sit next to him let alone Hinata who was always really shy and would converse with no one. Just as suddenly as the room went silent it erupted in crazed whispers about Hinata and Naruto.

"Alright that's enough settle down," said Iruka-sensei in a docile tone indicating that he didn't want to be here on a Saturday morning as much as everyone else.

The class once again returned to silence. Iruka-sensei and Mizuki-sensei were shuffling through some papers when Naruto began to fidget.

"Okay we will begin the test with the Henge no Jutsu," said Iruka-sensei as he got out a list of names, "first one up … Hyuuga, Hinata."

Hinata stood up shakily and went up to the front of the room.

"Hey Hinata," Naruto said. Hinata looked back towards Naruto. "Good luck and ganbatte ne."

Hinata was so happy that Naruto wished her luck that she was no longer nervous about the test. She walked into the designated area and awaited instructions for the test.

"Alright Hinata we would like you to do a Henge no Jutsu and transform into either one of us," said Mizuki-sensei.

Hinata nodded and readied the Jutsu. She preformed the necessary hand seal to do the Henge and a puff of smoke erupted around her. When the smoke disappeared an exact replica of Iruka-sensei appeared. Then through another wave of smoke she transformed back into Hinata.

"Very good Hinata," said Iruka-sensei as he and Mizuki-sensei wrote something down in their clipboards. "Now we would like a Bunshin no Jutsu … two copies should do it."

"Hai," said Hinata as she preformed the necessary hand seal for the Bunshin. Suddenly two puffs of smoke erupted near Hinata. Out of these two puffs of smoke came two exact replicas of Hinata.

"Very good again Hinata," said Iruka-sensei as the clones disappeared. Hinata walked back to her seat next to Naruto and sighed as relief washed over her.

"Thank you Naruto," said Hinata as she laid her head down on her desk.

"Don't mention it," said Naruto.

The rest of the class was being called down one after the other, each completing the tasks of the test with minimal alteration in outcome. Soon there was only Naruto left.

"Uzumaki, Naruto," read Mizuki-sensei from the clipboard.

Naruto heard people whispering about him and soon he felt disheartened.

"Naruto-kun," Hinata whispered. Naruto inclined his head toward Hinata, "ganbatte-ne Naruto-kun."

Naruto stopped dead in his tracks and though _no one has ever said that to me before._ Naruto didn't realize that he had stopped and some people began to laugh at him thinking that he was scared to take the test.

"Naruto it's your turn," said Iruka-sensei.

Naruto snapped out of his stupor and walked the rest of the way towards the testing area.

"Now as with the rest can you perform the Henge no Jutsu?" asked Iruka-sensei.

Naruto performed the hand seal but the product was much less than expected. The image of Iruka-sensei looked as if it was combined with a baboon.

"Now Naruto … is that what you really think I look like?" asked Iruka-sensei while chuckling.

Naruto got a little angry with this, "Fine … I'll show you a better Henge," said Naruto as he flashed a few hand seals and gathered some chakra around his body. "HENGE!" screamed Naruto as his chakra erupted forth a puff of smoke. Everyone waited for Naruto's Jutsu to come out expecting something really stupid. Just then a female version of Naruto came out of the partially cleared smoke. The smoke that was left over covered the private parts of nude female Naruto. "Hi my name is Naruko and I think you're the best," said the female Naruto. Naruko then winked and blew a kiss toward Iruka-sensei. Iruka-sensei looked stunned for a second then a blood rocket erupted from his nose and he fell back in his chair. "HAHA, how do you like my Oiroke No Jutsu," said the now male Naruto as he clutched his gut from laughing so hard. Everyone in the class began to blush from Naruto's invented technique.

"You and your stupid Jutsu Naruto!" screamed Iruka-sensei as he punched Naruto on the head.

Naruto hit the ground hard knocking the entire laugh out of him. He slowly got up and rubbed his head.

"Now enough with your pranks and do the Bunshin no Jutsu," said Iruka-sensei as he wiped the blood from his nose.

Naruto performed the hand seal for the Bunshin no Jutsu. Instead of two clones Naruto could only get a pale and decrepit clone. Naruto looked at the clone with dismay then turned his head towards Iruka-sensei.

"I'm sorry Naruto but with that performance on the Bunshin I can't let you pass," said Iruka-sensei with a sad look on his face. "Congratulations to the rest of you on becoming genin."

Naruto was devastated from this turnout.

"Iruka he did produce a clone can't you let him pass?" asked Mizuki-sensei.

Naruto instantly perked his head up to see if Iruka-sensei could be swayed. He had hope in his eyes that he might still be able to become a genin.

"I can't do that Mizuki, everyone else was able to produce two fully fledged clones … Naruto couldn't even get one to come out right … I can't let him pass," said Iruka-sensei as he laid down the clipboard.

Naruto walked out of the academy and sat on a swing that hung from a nearby tree. He sat there watching the other kids come out of the academy with his or her Konoha shinobi headband. The kids were so happy with their parents. Naruto felt completely empty inside looking at all of the smiling faces. Naruto never had anyone to congratulate him whenever he did something good, or comfort him when he failed at something. Naruto was devastated from the failure and just sat there on his swing with an empty look on his face.

"There's that boy, the one with the d…" whispered a woman who was cut off by her friend.

"Shut up. You know we're not allowed to talk about that," said the first woman's friend.

The first woman glared at Naruto with the most despiteful look he had ever seen in his life, "I'm just glad he didn't graduate. Can you imagine what would have happened if he became a shinobi?"

The other woman nodded to her friend in agreement. Naruto overheard their whispered conversation. He wasn't sure how but he heard their conversation so well it was if they were having it right next to him. Naruto was close to tears now so he grabbed a pair of green goggles from his pocket on his left leg and slid them over his eyes so no one would see. He got off his swing and headed towards his little sanctuary where no one else would be.

Hinata was close enough to hear the conversation without the aid of the mysterious force. She was curious as to why they would say such a thing about her beloved Naruto. She walked up to the two women and asked, "Why don't you want Naruto-kun to graduate and become a shinobi?"

"See Ibara you were too loud!" said the second woman sternly.

"Well if you were closer I wouldn't have had to have been loud Tsubaki," said the first woman apparently named Ibara.

The two women continued to fight with each other and Hinata knew that she wouldn't be able to get any information out of them anytime soon. Instead she headed into the academy to get a better source of information. When she entered the academy she saw Iruka-sensei and Mizuki-sensei going through some papers. She hesitantly walked up to them and cleared her throat to announce her presence.

"Ah Hinata what can I do for you?" asked Iruka-sensei.

"Well … um … It's about … uh … Naruto-kun," said Hinata as her face turned red. She felt a bit skittish talking to someone about Naruto.

"I'm sorry Hinata but I couldn't pass him if he couldn't get both of the techniques right," said Iruka-sensei obviously misinterpreting what Hinata had wanted to say.

"No it's not that," said Hinata, "some people outside were saying they were glad that Naruto-kun had not passed and I wanted to know why someone could think that about someone."

Iruka-sensei looked over at Mizuki-sensei who had a slightly nervous look on his face.

"How could two people be so cruel to someone they don't even know?" asked Hinata as tears began to well up in her eyes.

"I'm sorry Hinata but I can't tell you why they said that," said Iruka-sensei as a saddened look crept over his face. "Some things are just better left explained by the person that it affects the most that way you can get the full and complete story with no lies and no alterations."

Hinata was confused by what Iruka-sensei had said but she accepted it nonetheless. "Arigatou Iruka-sensei," said Hinata as she bowed.

"Gomen Hinata but maybe you will learn why someday," said Iruka-sensei.

Hinata left the academy to go to her favorite spot in the park in order to think about what had just happened. As she was nearing the park she began to hear a rhythmic thumping sound. Hinata knew that there wasn't any construction going on here so it couldn't be machinery. As she got closer to the park the thumping noise got louder. It sounded as if something was hitting a tree. When she entered the park through the tree line she noticed someone was punching a tree. She walked closer and saw that the person was Naruto.

"Naruto-kun … what are you doing?"

Naruto turned around to see who it was. He saw that it was Hinata and that she looked concerned. Naruto quickly dried up the tears on his face and covered up the sad look with a fake smile. After he did this he place his hands behind his back. Hinata noticed that he was crying and decided to try and comfort him.

"Why were you crying Naruto-kun?" asked Hinata as she walked closer to Naruto.

"It's nothing don't worry about it," said Naruto as he tried to brush off the subject by waving his hand.

Hinata noticed that Naruto's hands were covered in blood and were mangled pretty bad. Hinata assumed that they got that way from punching the tree. She looked around and noticed that a lot of the trees had bloody indents on them.

"Naruto you hurt your hands," said Hinata as she grabbed Naruto's hands. She reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a piece of cloth and began to wipe the blood off of Naruto's hands. She took out a small container marked ointment in kanji and began to rub some of it on Naruto's hands. She then wrapped up Naruto's hands with some bandages that she took out of her other pocket.

"You're really good at this Hinata," said Naruto not thinking to think it instead of saying it.

Hinata instantly froze. She had forgotten that she was with Naruto. She was so focused on a pair of injured hands that she completely forgot about the outside world. "I… was just… gomenasai," stuttered Hinata.

"I should be the one saying sorry," said Naruto as he examined his hands. "I'm the one who wrecked my hands."

"Why would you do that to your hands?" asked Hinata.

"I'm just mad that I couldn't pass the genin exam," said Naruto. He lay down in the grass next to Hinata and stared up at the sky. Hinata looked on with admiration at Naruto. She was so amazed that Naruto could brush off some things so easily. Ever since Hinata could remember she had loved her Naruto-kun but no one in the village even remotely liked Naruto. The grown ups would all take their children away from him when Naruto tried to be included in a game that was being played. It was so sad that Hinata started to cry.

Naruto noticed that Hinata was crying and got up on his elbows. "Hinata what's wrong … why are you crying?" asked Naruto.

"How can you … be so nonchalant about … what happens to you?" asked Hinata through sobs.

Naruto got up and leaned towards Hinata and embraced her in a hug. "Hinata the reason I can do that is because I'm really used to it," said Naruto as he began to rub her back trying to get her to stop crying. "They just don't care about anyone but themselves."

Hinata was shocked that Naruto was hugging her and all she could do was cry. Although she was sad at the moment Naruto's words had a strange power to comfort her. She almost immediately stopped crying.

"There all better now," said Naruto as he gave Hinata his fake smile.

Hinata managed a weak smile for Naruto. Naruto saw this and his fake smile got a little reality boost and began to become a little real itself.

"Are you okay now Hinata-chan?" asked Naruto as he began to think of Hinata as a friend.

Hinata was so happy that Naruto had added the chan title to her name. Hinata knew that Naruto was beginning to like her. _I__'__m finally making progress_ thought Hinata. "I'm okay now," said Hinata. "Thanks Naruto-kun."

Naruto lay back down in the grass and said, "Don't mention it." He looked up at the sky and a light breeze picked up. Hinata lay down next to Naruto and they both looked up at the sky as the clouds rolled by. Soon the wind picked up a bit more and the trees began to sway in the breeze. The sound of the trees and the wind combined with the view of the sky left both Naruto and Hinata in awe.


	3. CH3 Two Souls Alone in the World

Just then Mizuki-sensei walked up to the two of them. Naruto and Hinata looked at Mizuki who was hovering above them.

"Naruto if you wish to become a genin then meet me behind the academy tomorrow morning," said Mizuki-sensei. Suddenly a shroud of smoke enveloped Mizuki-sensei. When the smoke disappeared Mizuki-sensei was gone.

Naruto lifted himself on his elbows once again and Hinata shifter to her side. They both looked at each other with confused looks.

"What was that about?" asked Hinata as she looked around to see if Mizuki-sensei was hiding somewhere.

"I don't know but if it'll help me become a genin then I'll see him tomorrow at the academy," said Naruto as he lay back down. Naruto then closed his eyes and let the wind flow over him. Hinata smiled at her beloved Naruto. She then lay down as well and closed her eyes to let the wind flow over her.

"Hey Hinata do you smell that?" asked Naruto.

"Smell what?" asked Hinata.

They both opened their eyes and noticed that storm clouds had moved in.

"I guess you smelled rain coming," said Hinata as they both got up. "We had better get home before it starts to rain. Suddenly a huge downpour erupted along with flashes of lighting and crashes of thunder.

"Come on my apartment is close by!" yelled Naruto over the boom of a nearby thunderclap. Naruto grabbed Hinata's hand and they both ran for Naruto's apartment. When they got out of the park they saw other people scurrying for shelter. They reached Naruto's apartment within five minutes but couldn't avoid the rain. They were both completely soaked from the rain. Naruto unlocked the door to his apartment. They both walked inside dripping and shivering. They both took off their shoes. Naruto left Hinata at the door and walked to his stove. He turned it on and opened the oven door.

"This will get the room nice and warm," said Naruto as he walked toward his bathroom. He entered the bathroom and soon emerged with two large towels. He handed one of the towels and started to dry his hair with the other towel. Soon the room began to get steadily warmer. Naruto then set up a cloth line in front of the stove.

"What's that for?" Hinata asked.

Naruto looked at Hinata, "it's to get our cloths dry," said Naruto blatantly as he took off his jacket and hung it on the line. Hinata blushed when she saw Naruto disrobing. Naruto walked to his dresser and got out two sets of night cloths that they could wear while their day cloths would be drying.

"Here you can change into this," said Naruto as he handed one set to Hinata. Hinata took it and nervously went to the bathroom to change. Naruto proceeded to take off the rest of his cloths as soon as Hinata closed the door. He striped off his shirt revealing bandages where the strange seal was. He then removed his pants and boxers and quickly put on the new cloths. The new cloths were plain. They consisted of a blue shirt and blue pants. He hung his cloths on the cloth line and had just started to put his boxers on the line when Hinata came out wearing the same garb. Hinata blushed again as she saw Naruto's boxers. When Naruto saw Hinata's cloths in her hand he stepped aside to let her hang up her cloths. Hinata walked up to Naruto and proceeded to hang up her cloths next to his. Naruto then placed some smaller towels under the cloths to sop up any water that would drip off. As soon as Hinata finished hanging up her cloths she sat down on Naruto's bed.

"Sorry it's not much of a place," said Naruto attempting to apologize as he got up from the floor. "I don't have a lot of money to buy stuff for it."

"Don't worry about it Naruto-kun," said Hinata as she shook her head.

Naruto got up and sighed. He walked over to the stove and checked the heat coming off of it.

"What's wrong?" asked Hinata.

"I guess I'm just not used to having a guest in my apartment," said Naruto as he turned around to face Hinata. "I guess I'm just nervous … I really don't know what to do." Naruto bent down to a lower cupboard and took out a medium sized pot. He then walked over to his sink and filled it with water. He took the now filled pot over to his stove and set it on one of the grates. He turned on the gas under the grate and lit the gas with a match.

"What are you making?" asked Hinata as she looked on with curiosity.

"Well I'm kind of hungry and I think you are too," said Naruto as he heard Hinata's stomach growl. Hinata quickly placed her hands over her stomach and blushed a bit more. "Well I'm going to boil some water for some ramen noodles." Naruto bent down and took out some instant ramen cups from his lower cupboard and placed them on the countertop. A few minutes went by and the water began to boil. Naruto then turned off the gas for the stove and the fire went out. He took the pot of boiling water and poured it into the two instant ramen cups.

"Now we wait," said Naruto as he got out two homemade cushions to sit on. He placed them in the center of the room. Naruto then took a scroll out from a drawer and put some chakra into it. A puff of smoke erupted from the center of the room and a table soon appeared out of it. "We can sit here and eat."

"What are we waiting for?" asked Hinata.

"Haven't you ever had ramen before?" asked Naruto. "You have to wait for the noodles to soak up the water and get soft."

"Oh. Well my father never let me have ramen before," said Hinata.

"That's horrible. Everyone should have ramen … it's the best thing in the world," said Naruto as he over dramatized the situation. "You've got to try it Hinata." Naruto grabbed two sets of chopsticks from his drawer and tossed one set to Hinata who clumsily caught it. He then grabbed the two cups of ramen and set one in front of Hinata and placed the other in front of his cushion. Naruto then sat down and took a big sniff of the aroma emanating from the cup. Hinata and Naruto each picked up their chopsticks and prepared to eat.

"Itadakimasu," said both Hinata and Naruto. They then began to eat their ramen.

"This is really good," said Hinata in between bites.

Naruto could only nod because he was eating too fast for him to speak. Just then Naruto began to choke on his noodles. He quickly tipped the ramen cup against his lips and drank some of the broth to help clear his throat. He took a gasp for air and banged his chest with his free hand. Hinata couldn't help but laugh at the scene that had unfolded before her.

"Hey that's not funny I could have died from that!" yelled Naruto.

"Sorry," said Hinata as she wiped a tear from her eye. "You're definitely not the monster that my father set you out to be."

"What do you mean?" asked Naruto as he got up. He walked over to his fridge and took out a carton of milk. He poured the milk into two glasses that he got from his upper cupboard.

"Well he said if I went anywhere near you I would die," said Hinata.

"Oh," said Naruto as he set the cups down on the table. "I didn't know I was elevated to the status of monster." Most people would just avoid me like a disease so I thought I was just a nuisance."

"He probably doesn't know the real you Naruto-kun," said Hinata as she tried to comfort Naruto.

"That's the thing Hinata," said Naruto as he paused to take a drink of his milk. "No one knows the real me … everyone thinks of me as a monster when I'm just a boy with no one to care about me." He took another drink from his milk and walked to the glass door that led to his balcony.

Hinata took a drink from her milk and tried to muster up some courage. _This is the perfect time to tell him that you love him Hinata_ she thought. "T-That's not true Naruto-kun."

"Oh yeah name five people, who care about me above toleration," said Naruto as he wheeled around to face Hinata.

"Well the Hokage likes you, and Iruka-sensei does too," said Hinata as she counted off fingers. "There are the two people from that ramen stand that you always are at." Hinata paused for a minute trying to muster up the courage to tell him how she felt about him.

"Well you got four," said Naruto as his voice lessened in anger. "What about the fifth person that likes me above toleration?"

"Well … um … the f-fifth … is…" stuttered Hinata as she began to blush profusely "is me."

Naruto was at a loss for words. For once in his life he couldn't even think of a smart-ass remark about a situation he was in. All he could think about was Hinata. He soon began to figure out why every time Hinata was around him she would blush. Hinata was probably the only kid in the village who liked him.

"Hinata I … I don't know what to say … no one has ever openly admitted that they like me," said Naruto as tears began to well in his eyes.

"That's not all Naruto-kun," said Hinata as she began to gain confidence. She had told him that she liked him so she might as well tell him everything. "Naruto-kun I…" she paused. Her face flushed more vibrantly.

"You what?" asked Naruto as he walked closer to Hinata. Hinata edged toward Naruto and their eyes fixated on each other. Beautiful pearls locked in with intense sapphires. They were now inches away from each other, "you what?" Naruto whispered.

"Love you," whispered Hinata as she moved in and began to kiss Naruto. Naruto was confused as to what was happening. He had never kissed anyone in his life. He wasn't even sure that he was doing it right but he soon learned. Naruto pulled Hinata closer and Hinata placed her arms around Naruto. They stood there in their embrace for quite awhile. There moment of passion continued on for what seemed like forever until the sound of crickets roused them from their own little world. They both looked at each other's faces. They were both panting from the extreme lack of oxygen from the kiss.

"I'm sorry I should not have done that," said Hinata as she attempted to apologize.

"Hinata you keep apologizing to me for something that isn't your fault," said Naruto. "Besides I should be the one to say sorry."

"Why?" asked Hinata.

"For not realizing that you loved me sooner," said Naruto. "I always thought that you were sick or scared whenever I saw you but now I know what it truly meant." Hinata started to press her index fingers together. Naruto looked outside and noticed that it was dark. He moved toward his door and turned on the light to his apartment. He then looked at his clock. "It's almost ten o'clock … you can't go home now … it's too late, and with the ground still soaked with the rain it will just make the trip worse.

"I'll call my father and tell him that I am staying at a friend's house for the night," said Hinata as she walked towards Naruto's phone. Naruto opened up the door to his balcony and the scent of rain and sakura blossoms spilled into the room. He stepped onto the balcony and looked at the paths below. He had installed a canopy over his balcony a few years ago so he could see Konoha when it rained. The Hidden Village of the Leaf was completely different when it rained. It was almost as if no problems existed in the world.

"What a great view," said Hinata as she walked out onto the balcony and stood next to Naruto.

"I often stand out here at night to make my troubles go away," said Naruto with a solemn look on his face.

Hinata leaned over and placed her head on Naruto's shoulder. Naruto leaned his head on Hinata's and wrapped his right arm around her.

"My father said it was okay for me to stay over," whispered Hinata.

"He doesn't know it's my apartment does he?" asked Naruto.

"No, he does not know," said Hinata through a sigh.

After that they just stood there in silence. Neither of them wanted to ruin the moment so they just stood there admiring the beauty of Konohagakure. An hour later it had stopped raining and the clouds had parted revealing a radiant star filled sky.

"Wait here," said Naruto as he left Hinata and walked into the apartment. He later returned with a couple of blankets. "We can go to the park and look at the stars," said Naruto as a smile spread across his face. This time his smile showed genuine happiness.

Naruto and Hinata left Naruto's apartment and proceeded to the park in the dead of night. There were no lights around except for the stars and the moon. They made it to the park at about one in the morning. Just as Hinata had said, the park was indeed soaked from the rain.

"Here hold these," said Naruto as he handed Hinata the two blankets. Hinata took them with a puzzled look on her face. Naruto stepped into the center of the park and started a breathing exercise used to stimulate chakra flow. The air around him began to haze over in a strange heat wave. Hinata stood there in awe of what Naruto was doing. His chakra was actually so intense that it was heating the air around him. The haze around Naruto began to turn blue as his chakra started to seep out. Then for some strange reason Naruto thought of the nightmares that had been plaguing him for the past week. His usual soft flow of blue chakra turned into a huge rush of red chakra. The surge of red chakra flowed all over the park but neither Naruto nor Hinata could feel the heat that was coming off of it. The mysterious red chakra was so hot that steam started to rise from the park. Just as soon as the red chakra had come, it had gone leaving a huge cloud of steam rising from the park. There was no more moisture left in the entire park.

"Wow … that has never happened before," said Naruto as he looked at the mist rising from the entire park.

Then out of no where two shinobi jumped into the park.

"ANBU?" muttered Naruto.

"What happened here?" asked the first ANBU shinobi. This ANBU shinobi wore a dog mask with the symbol of Konoha over it. The rest of him was covered in a cloak.

"We sensed a large outburst of chakra," said the other ANBU shinobi. This shinobi wore a mask with a large red swirl on it.

"We were just training," said Hinata deliberately lying.

"I guess I let out too much chakra," said Naruto as he rubbed the back of his head. He hoped that this lie would work.

"Don't let it happen again," said the shinobi with the dog mask.

"Especially at night," said the shinobi with the swirl mask.

"Don't worry I'll keep him under control," said Hinata.

The two ANBU nodded towards Hinata and left in two swirls of leaves. Naruto just stood there and as soon as he made sure they were gone he shuddered.

"Their masks scare me a bit," said Naruto as he surveyed the park. "I only meant to clear a small spot … I guess I got the whole park."

Hinata laughed and threw the blankets and Naruto. The sudden impact sent Naruto to the ground.

"Alright, alright I'll set it up," said Naruto as he placed one of the blankets on the ground. "After you," said Naruto as he motioned for Hinata to lie on the blanket. Hinata walked to the blanket and lay down. Naruto then lay down right next to her and placed the second blanket over them both. They stared at the star filled sky and began to cuddle to keep out the cold night air. A few hours went by and the sky began to brighten with the coming of dawn.

"You're going to love this," said Naruto as he stood up.

Hinata stood up as well thinking that Naruto was talking about the coming sunrise. Soon her theory was proven correct. A beautiful sunrise dissipated the night sky. As the sun rose a rainbow pierced the sky. Last night's rain had created a spectacular sunrise.

"Sugoi it's beautiful," said Hinata as her eyes widened.

"Yeah she is," said Naruto.

"Huh?" wondered Hinata as she turned her head to find Naruto staring at her. Hinata blushed as Naruto edged closer and kissed Hinata. When Naruto broke the kiss his eyes went wide with shock.

"What's wrong?" asked Hinata.

"We've got to get back to my apartment before people wake up and see us out like this," Said Naruto as he began to pick up the blankets.

They gathered up the blankets and started off for Naruto's apartment. They were lucky to find that no one had woken up yet. When they reached Naruto's apartment Naruto walked inside and turned off his oven. The room was pretty warm along with the now dried cloths that were hanging from the cloth's line.

"I guess we should get dressed," said Naruto as he grabbed his cloths off the line. Hinata grabbed her cloths and proceeded to the bathroom. Naruto was thinking about what had happened at the park and paused before putting on his shirt. He placed his hand over the area where his seal was and began to think of the nightmare that he always had. This seal seemed to be the source of all of his problems. He looked down at the bandages and noticed a faint red glow coming from underneath them. Naruto was about to check it out when he heard the handle on his bathroom door turn. He quickly threw on his shirt and then put on his jacket.

"I guess I should see Mizuki-sensei now about becoming a genin," said Naruto as he zipped up his jacket.

"I'll go with you," said Hinata.

"Alright," said Naruto and off they went. They left Naruto's apartment making sure that everything was off, closed, and locked. They then proceeded to the academy. Each other's company was all they needed to keep occupied for the walk.


	4. CH4 Battle in the Forest

They ended up talking about a few of the easy Jutsu that a genin should know. This passed the time quite well because by the time they had finished talking about Kawarimi no Jutsu they had reached they academy. They saw many people out and about while they were walking. These people were going about their regular business trying to clean up from last night's rain. They reached the entrance of the academy. They saw Iruka-sensei there ushering in the last of the younger academy students. Naruto and Hinata walked up to him as the last academy student walked into the academy.

"Ah Naruto and Hinata together again," said Iruka-sensei. "Then again 'It's not like that Iruka-sensei'," said Iruka-sensei imitating Naruto's voice.

"Actually Iruka-sensei … it is like that now," said Naruto as Hinata blushed.

"Ah my students are blossoming," said Iruka-sensei, "but why are you here today … you don't have class?"

"Actually we're here to see Mizuki-sensei," said Naruto.

"Ara… he's out back," said Iruka-sensei as he pointed to the back of the academy.

Naruto nodded and Hinata bowed as they both walked to the back of the academy leaving a confused Iruka-sensei behind. When they reached the back they found Mizuki-sensei practicing his shuriken throwing.

"Ooi Mizuki-sensei," said Naruto as he waved his hand.

"Ah Naruto you're here," said Mizuki-sense as he faced Naruto," Nani? Hinata what are you doing here?"

"I came with Naruto-kun," said Hinata.

"I am sorry but can I talk to Naruto alone?" asked Mizuki-sensei.

"But I…" began Hinata before Naruto cut her off. "Don't worry Hinata I'll catch up with you when I'm done," said Naruto. Naruto then quickly kissed Hinata on the cheek. No one noticed the look of pure disgust that flashed across Mizuki-sensei's face before he returned it to that fake smile.

"See you later Naruto-kun," said Hinata as she raced off. Mizuki-sensei then began to talk to Naruto about how to become a genin.

"Okay here's what you have to do. You have to…" said Mizuki-sensei before Hinata was out of earshot.

As Hinata reached the front of the academy she felt as if she was lighter than air. Naruto was finally hers and there was nothing anyone could do to separate them. _Not even the Hokage could stop this_ thought Hinata.

At that moment the ruler of Konohagakure was looking over some forms for missions that were recently completed. He was wearing a white dome shaped hat with a shoal around it. Within a red square on the hat was the symbol of the fire country, which housed the Hidden Village of the Leaf. He wore a white and red cloak that trailed all the way to the ground. He was going through the papers when a sneeze caught him unexpectedly.

"A pretty woman must be talking about me," muttered the Sandaime. The Sandaime had been doing paperwork all day long. He continued on till about ten in the morning before he sighed. "Today has been really uneventful," said the Sandaime as he filed another paper, "but uneventful is mostly a good thing. Suddenly a ninja burst into the room. "What's the meaning of this?" asked the Hokage as he gave the shinobi a stern look.

"My apologies Hokage-sama," said the shinobi as he gave a quick bow, "but Naruto seams to have stolen the forbidden scroll!"

"Mobilize the other shinobi and find him before he reads too much into that scroll," said the Hokage as he turned to face the window that overlooked the village. _Naruto can not be allowed to read that scroll or the whole village could be in danger_ thought the Hokage.

Search teams consisting of chuunin and jounin soon flooded the village. Everyone in the village had no clue what was going on. Many people created a rumor that an enemy shinobi had infiltrated the city. Other people added on to that rumor by saying that Naruto helped the enemy shinobi in and they were going to try and kill the Hokage. Hours had passed and it was nearly dark and soon the entire village knew of the disturbance.

Hinata was walking through Konohagakure listening to all of the rumors that were flying around. Hinata couldn't believe how quick people were to jump to conclusions. Just then Iruka-sensei jumped down in front of Hinata.

"Hinata do you know where Naruto might be?" asked Iruka-sensei, "I checked his apartment but he wasn't there."

"I was going to see if he is at the park we were at yesterday, he seems to like it there," said Hinata. "What's going on Iruka-sensei?"

"I'm sorry Hinata but all I know is that I have to find Naruto before he reads a certain scroll," said Iruka-sensei. "Where is the park that he likes to go to?" asked Iruka-sensei.

"It's on the other side of the village," said Hinata.

"Take me there," said Iruka-sensei.

They both started to run and jump towards the park that Hinata mentioned. By the time they reached the park it was already dark out. They quickly surveyed the overgrown park for Naruto but he was nowhere to be seen.

"I thought you said this was his favorite spot," said Iruka-sensei as he turned to face Hinata.

"He's here," said Hinata as she walked to the center of the park. They reached the center of the park but Naruto wasn't there either. Iruka-sensei looked at Hinata with a confused look. Hinata pointed at the ground and Iruka-sensei saw Naruto sleeping next to the forbidden scroll.

"Naruto!" yelled Iruka-sensei trying to get Naruto to wake up. Naruto slowly opened his eyes and roughly focused them on Hinata.

"Nani, how come you sound like Iruka-sensei Hinata?" asked Naruto as he tilted his head back to get a better view of Hinata.

"Actually Iruka-sensei yelled at you," said Hinata as she pointed at Iruka-sensei.

Naruto turned his head and finally noticed Iruka-sensei. Naruto quickly got into a cross-legged sitting position and grabbed the forbidden scroll. "Oh hi Iruka-sensei I guess my time with the scroll is up," said Naruto. "I only had enough time to learn a few Jutsu,"

"All you were doing was learning Jutsu?" asked Iruka-sensei.

"Yeah … Mizuki-sensei said that if I master some Jutsu from this scroll then you would let me become a genin," said Naruto as he rubbed his nose.

Iruka-sensei's eyes widened as he realized what was going on. Just then two kunai came from a tree nearby and implanted them into the ground. They landed between the three of them. Hinata jumped back with an outstretched right palm and a drawn in left palm. Iruka-sensei drew a couple of kunai from a bag on his leg. Naruto jumped up in a basic defense position. He had clenched his fists and raised them to chest level. All three shinobi looked towards the tree that the kunai came from. They were startled to see who had thrown the two kunai.

Mizuki-sensei was staring down at the three of them with a malicious grin spread across his face. "Well, well, well look who we have here," said Mizuki-sensei. He then grabbed a giant shuriken from his back.

"Hinata go get help!" ordered Iruka-sensei as he threw a kunai at Mizuki-sensei who nimbly dodged it. Hinata nodded her head in acknowledgement and ran towards the village.

"Naruto give me the scroll," said Iruka-sensei as he extended a hand towards Naruto.

"Don't listen to him Naruto," said Mizuki-sensei. "He is the one who is holding a deadly secret about you."

"Nani … a secret?" asked Naruto as he looked at Iruka-sensei with a confused look.

"No Mizuki, don't tell him!" yelled Iruka-sensei.

"Don't tell him what he should have been told a long time ago?" asked Mizuki-sensei rhetorically. He then eyed Naruto with a look of pure hatred.

"What are you saying?" asked Naruto.

"I'm saying that within you resides the nine-tailed demon fox Kyubi Kitsune," said Mizuki-sensei. "That's why you have a seal on your stomach."

Naruto couldn't believe what he was hearing. How could the demon fox be inside of him? Naruto then remembered the seal on his stomach. No one ever wanted to tell him about it. Now he knew why everyone hated him. What had attacked the village so many years ago was now sharing a body with him. Naruto picked up the forbidden seal and ran into the nearby forest.

"Naruto!" yelled Iruka-sensei as he ran after Naruto. Mizuki-sensei quickly followed suit with a giant shuriken in hand.

At the same time Hinata was running as fast as she could toward the Hokage building. She kept her eyes open for any shinobi as she went. She had reached the Hokage building without seeing a single shinobi. _They must be searching other places_ thought Hinata as she ran through the entrance to the building. She quickly made her way to the Hokage's office and ran into the room.

"Gomenasai Hokage-sama for intruding but I have news that you must hear," said Hinata as she gave a quick bow.

"What's wrong?" asked the Hokage as he rose from his chair.

"Mizuki-sensei is attacking Naruto-kun and Iruka-sensei in an abandoned park south east from here, and is trying to get a scroll from Naruto-kun," said Hinata as she tried to catch her breath.

"This can not be," said the Hokage as he slammed his fists down on the table.

"I'm sorry Hokage-sama but that is what Iruka-sensei told me to tell you," said Hinata as she backed up a bit.

"Do not fret child I will send help immediately," said the Hokage as he walked from behind his desk up to Hinata. He placed his hands on her shoulders and gave a soft smile. "Kakashi I'm sure you heard all of this will you please follow this girl to the location of the attack," said the Hokage as a shinobi appeared from the shadows in one of the corners of the room.

Kakashi had a look of exhaustion on his face. His face was half covered by a blue mask. The leaf shinobi headband covered his left eye. His hair was a pure silver color and strutted forward. Aside from his face the rest of the ninja gear he wore was pretty standard for a shinobi, except for two things. He wore a green flak jacket that showed he had passed the test to become a chuunin. Also across one of the pockets was a band that showed he was had passed the test to become a jounin.

"Kakashi this is Hyuuga Hinata … Hinata this is Hatake Kakashi," said the Hokage introducing the two to each other.

Hinata stepped to the side to let the shinobi stand in front of the Hokage. She gave a small bow to Kakashi.

"No need to bow Hinata," said Kakashi as he waved a hand to dismiss Hinata's gesture.

"Kakashi I want you to retrieve the scroll and make sure that Naruto and Iruka are alright," said the Hokage as he turned to face towards the abandoned park that Hinata was talking about. It was hard to make out because it was so dark, but birds were flying away from the scene in fright.

"Hai Hokage-sama," replied the shinobi as he and Hinata ran out of the room. As soon as they exited the building they started to sprint towards the park. It wouldn't be long now before two more would aid in the fight to help Naruto and Iruka-sensei overcome Mizuki-sensei.

While Hinata, Kakashi, and the Hokage were talking Iruka-sensei and Mizuki-sensei had caught up with Naruto. Naruto chose to take Iruka-sensei's side because he knew that, even with the knowledge that Naruto housed the Kyubi within him, Iruka-sensei still liked him.

"How can you side with that demon Iruka?" asked Mizuki as he prepared to throw his second giant shuriken at the two of them.

"Because it is the right thing to do," said Iruka-sensei as he threw the kunai he had at Mizuki. Mizuki sidestepped the two kunai and threw his giant shuriken at Naruto. Iruka-sensei saw this and jumped in front of Naruto to block the shuriken. The giant shuriken ended up embedding itself into Iruka-sensei's back. Iruka-sensei was now on his hands and knees as he hovered over Naruto. Blood began to drip down onto Naruto as Mizuki laughed at what Iruka-sensei tried to do.

"Naruto I'm sorry that I never told you what you were when ever you asked," said Iruka-sensei as he began to cry. "But you must believe that I didn't tell you in order to protect you." The tears began to flow freely now from Iruka-sense's eyes and they began to drop down onto Naruto.

"I just don't know what to believe anymore," said Naruto as he grabbed the scroll and started tree hopping through the park.

"NO NARUTO COME BACK!' yelled Iruka-sensei as he stretched out his hand towards Naruto.

"Even your precious student has chosen to abandon you in your time of need," cackled Mizuki-sensei. This caused many birds to awaken from their slumber and fly away in fright.

Iruka-sensei got up and pulled the giant shuriken from his back. This shocked Mizuki and he dropped his guard. Iruka-sensei then threw the shuriken as hard as he could at Mizuki who jumped into the air to dodge it. While Mizuki was in the air Iruka-sensei began to pursue Naruto.

At this time Hinata and Kakashi had just entered the park. No one was in sight. A slight whirring sound was the only thing that disturbed the park. The whirring got louder and every now and then they heard bits of trees slice off as if someone was cutting them. Just then the giant shuriken that Iruka-sensei had thrown was coming down towards Hinata and Kakashi. Kakashi quickly grabbed Hinata and jumped into the air to avoid the shuriken.

"I guess the battle is pretty heated up," said Kakashi as they both landed.

"The shuriken came from that direction," said Hinata as she pointed through the destruction. "Come on let's go." They both darted of towards the source of the giant shuriken.

In the forest near the park Naruto was jumping through the trees trying to get away from what happened earlier. Suddenly Iruka-sensei jumped out near Naruto.

"Naruto I can help you just give me the scroll," said Iruka-sensei as he extended a hand towards Naruto. Naruto jumped towards Iruka-sensei and slammed into his chest. Iruka-sensei fell to the ground and a puff of smoke enveloped him. As the smoke cleared Mizuki was standing where Iruka-sensei should be.

"Impossible … how did you know it was me?" asked Mizuki-sensei as Naruto landed at the base of a nearby tree. Naruto just laughed as a puff of smoke enveloped him.

"I knew because I'm the real Iruka-sensei," said Iruka-sensei as he appeared out of the smoke.

"A Kawarimi no Jutsu," muttered Mizuki-sensei as the scroll that Iruka-sensei was carrying turned into a log.

"Now you'll never get your hands on Naruto," said Iruka-sensei as he laughed.

"What makes you say that?" asked Mizuki-sensei as a smile spread across his face. "You do know that that bakemono killed your parents, right? You do know that it is inside that runt of a kid, right?" Mizuki sensei kept trying to convince Iruka-sensei to help him.

Naruto, who was hiding by a nearby tree, was hearing everything that was going on. He felt bad for what had happened to Iruka-sensei in the past. He wanted Iruka-sensei to like him but with this information Naruto didn't think he had a chance.

"You're right," said Iruka-sensei. Naruto heard this and began to cry. One of his only friends now hated him. "He is the Kyubi … but he is still just Naruto," said Iruka-sensei. "And I will die to protect him if I have to."

"Well I'm going to help you with that by killing you," said Mizuki as he grabbed the other giant shuriken. At this point Naruto was so happy that Iruka-sensei still liked him, even when the Kyubi that was inside of him had killed Iruka-sensei's parents. Naruto stepped out from behind the tree and slammed the forbidden scroll into the ground.

"If you even touch Iruka-sensei I'll kill you," said Naruto with a look to kill on his face.

"No Naruto he's too strong for you run away," pleaded Iruka-sensei.

"What could this bakemono do to hurt me?" asked Mizuki-sense through a laugh.

"I can do this," said Naruto. He then crossed the two for fingers of both of his hands into a cross across his chest. He then screamed out, "Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Suddenly thousands of Naruto clones were springing from an enormous smoke cloud that had enveloped the entire field.

"No way," said Iruka-sensei. _That's his worst subject yet he was able to create thousands of clones _thought Iruka-sensei, _and they're not just illusions … they're solid._

At this point Hinata and Kakashi had stepped into the field and saw what was going on.

"What the hell?" stammered Mizuki as he realized the sudden danger that he was in.

All of the Naruto clones were laughing and preparing for an assault on the now frightened Mizuki. "Ikuze!" screamed out all of the Naruto clones as they either jumped or ran at Mizuki.

Mizuki let out a bloodcurdling scream as all of the Naruto clones began to pummel Mizuki. A few seconds later the Naruto clones disappeared in their own little puffs of smoke. All that was left in the middle of the field was a severely beaten up Mizuki and a laughing Naruto. Naruto then walked over to the scroll and picked it up. He then walked over to Iruka-sensei and set the scroll aside.

"Are you all right?" asked Naruto as he looked over Iruka-sensei.

"I am now thanks to you," said Iruka-sensei as he smiled. "That was one hell of a Jutsu you did there Naruto."

Naruto just smiled and rubbed his nose, "ah it was nothing."

"I'll be taking these," said Kakashi as he picked up Mizuki and the forbidden scroll.

"Nani?" asked Naruto as he looked around. He noticed Kakashi and Hinata standing near the battle scene. "Ah Hinata this is who you brought to help us?"

"Hai Naruto-kun," said Hinata as she blushed a bit.

"I guess I'm going to have a lot of explaining to do," said Naruto as he looked at the scroll and Mizuki.

"Don't worry about that kid," said Kakashi. "This girl already explained everything that happened up to the point when she ran to get help."

"Thanks Hinata," said Naruto as he smiled at Hinata.

Hinata just smiled at Naruto and blushed a bit more.

"The rest I'll explain," said Iruka-sensei. "But first something needs to be done about Naruto."

Naruto flinched as he heard this. Suddenly something was wrapped around his forehead. He turned around and noticed that Iruka-sense's headband was gone. He felt where his forehead should be but instead felt the cold metal of the Konoha shinobi headband.

"Congratulations Naruto you are now a genin of the Hidden Village in the Leaves," said Iruka-sensei as he gave him a thumbs up.

"Cool let's celebrate with some ramen," said Naruto as he began jumping for joy, "your treat Iruka-sensei."

"I knew that was coming," said Iruka-sensei as Naruto grabbed Hinata's hand and ran off towards the village.

"That kid is going to be a great shinobi someday…" said Kakashi.

"Do you want to join us?" asked Iruka-sensei.

"No, I'm afraid I can't," said Kakashi as his hefted up the scroll and Mizuki.

"Ah yes … that…" said Iruka-sensei.

"Hurry up Iruka-sensei or we'll leave you behind!" shouted Naruto as he waved his hand. Hinata just giggled at Naruto.

"I'm coming!" shouted Iruka-sensei. "I guess I'll leave you to your job Kakashi."

Kakashi then vanished in a swirl of leaves.


	5. CH5 A Quiet Ramen Supper

The happenings in that abandoned forest was a secret to all that were at the forest, so naturally the whole village knew. Instead of the usual gall that the village gave Naruto they instead congratulated him for what had happened. Apparently a few other shinobi witnessed the fight and began telling people what happened.

"Great job Naruto," said one shopkeeper as they passed.

"Good job catching that thief," said an old woman in the street.

Naruto never felt this happy in his life. People were starting to like him for who he was rather than what was inside him. By the time the three of them reached Ichiraku's ramen stand Naruto had been congratulated by ten to twenty people for catching Mizuki. He was so happy that he was at a loss for words when they entered the stand. The owner, Teuchi-san, greeted them as they entered.

"Welcome to the Ichiraku ramen stand," said Teuchi-san as he looked at Iruka-sensei and Hinata. "Ah Naruto my best customer," said Teuchi-san as he smiled at Naruto.

"Ohayou oji-san," said Naruto as he sat down. Hinata and Iruka-sensei sat down next to him.

"What'll it be today Naruto?" asked Teuchi-san.

"Today I'll have the pork ramen," said Naruto as he grabbed a pair of chopsticks.

"Alright what about you two?" he asked as he looked at Hinata and Iruka-sensei.

"I'll have what Naruto-kun is having," said Hinata shyly.

"I'll have a beef ramen," said Iruka-sensei.

"Coming right up," said Teuchi-san as he began making the three bowls of ramen. Iruka-sensei and Hinata both picked out their chopsticks and waited for Teuchi-san to get their orders. Soon after, Teuchi-san had filled the orders and set them down in front of Hinata, Naruto, and Iruka-sensei.

"Itadakimasu," said the three of them and they started eating their ramen. They ate their ramen in silence for awhile. The only thing that penetrated the silence was the clanging of bowls as Naruto finished bowl after bowl or pork ramen. All of a sudden Naruto stopped eating his ramen and placed his chopsticks down. Hinata and Iruka-sensei were some way through their second bowls of ramen.

"Some day I'll be Hokage," said Naruto out of the blue.

"Why's that?" asked Iruka-sensei.

"That way, people will start to recognize me rather than ignoring me or running away from me," said Naruto. "That way, people will stop calling me a freak or a monster."

"Who called you a monster?" asked Hinata.

"Mizuki did when he said that the…" began Naruto as Iruka-sensei cut him off.

"Hey Naruto how about another bowl of ramen," said Iruka-sensei as he gave Teuchi-san a quick glance.

"Er … right … coming right up," said Teuchi-san. Suddenly a girl came from the back of the restaurant carrying a stack of fresh ingredients.

"Ah Ayame thanks for bringing this in," said Teuchi-san as he took the ingredients from the girl.

"If you did what you were supposed to do then I wouldn't have to always bring them in," said Ayame as she glared at Teuchi.

"H-Hai, Hai I know," said Teuchi-san as he tried to calm Ayame down.

Naruto, Hinata, and Iruka-sensei couldn't keep in their laughter at the sight of Teuchi cowering before Ayame. Teuchi just took the ingredients and began to add them to the bowl of pork ramen in front of him. As soon as he completed it he handed it to Naruto who eagerly took it. Naruto then immediately began to wolf it down.

"Hey Naruto don't eat so fast or you might…," said Iruka-sensei as Naruto began to choke on his ramen, "…choke."

Naruto quickly grabbed the bowl or ramen and placed it to his lips. He guzzled down the ramen broth and his choking fit ceased. Naruto didn't notice that some of the broth had trickled down his chin.

"Naruto-kun you've got a little bit of broth right here," said Hinata as she pointed to her chin. Naruto licked his bottom lip in a vain attempt to clean it.

"Did I get it?" asked Naruto.

"Here let me get it for you," said Hinata as she grabbed a handkerchief from her pocket. She leaned close to Naruto and began to wipe off the broth. Iruka-sensei, Teuchi-san, and Ayame looked at each other. They were happy for Naruto. Hinata and Naruto noticed this, and quickly returned to what they were doing before Hinata wiped the ramen broth from Naruto's face.

"A-Arigatou Hinata-chan," said Naruto as his face became red. Hinata just sat there equally red.

"I'm glad you've found someone Naruto," said Iruka-sensei.

Naruto and Hinata just turned even redder in the face. The onlookers just laughed at this. Naruto and Hinata smiled.

_Embarrassing as this is _thought Naruto _at least these people can accept this._

"Oh I almost forgot you get your team assignments tomorrow," said Iruka-sensei. "You two need to come to the academy tomorrow to get your team number."

"I thought we were done with class Iruka-sensei," complained Naruto. He set down his fifth bowl of ramen with the others.

"You won't have to stay long Naruto," said Iruka-sensei. Naruto sighed while Iruka-sensei paid Teuchi-san for all of the ramen. He got up and started to head out when Naruto stopped him.

"Hey Iruka-sensei thanks for the ramen and making me a genin … I won't let you down," said Naruto as he scratched the back of his head.

"I know you'll be a great ninja Naruto," said Iruka-sensei. Iruka-sensei then left the ramen stand and headed home.

By now it was dark out and there was no one around. Hinata and Naruto left the ramen stand and headed toward the Hyuuga estate. They walked together in silence for quite awhile. It was very late and all of the lights in any of the buildings were out. There were no clouds in the sky so the moon and stars shone brightly through. The trip to the Hyuuga estate was very uneventful. No one was up at this time of night. Naruto and Hinata could find nothing to talk about. They were too sleepy to do much of anything besides walk to the Hyuuga estate. By the time they reached the estate Hinata was almost sleep walking. Naruto had to nudge Hinata awake so that she could get to her house alright.

"I'll see you tomorrow Hinata," said Naruto as he gave Hinata a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Bye Naruto-kun," said Hinata as she walked up the steps to her house.

Naruto left Hinata's house and proceeded towards his apartment. He was happy about the way things were going for him now. When he reached his apartment he unlocked the door and went inside. The scene was horrible. Somehow someone got into his house and ransacked the place. His cloths and light furniture were tossed around. His bed was overturned and his ramen cups were spilled out in his apartment. This sort of thing happened to him a lot and he bent down to start cleaning up the place. He started with the empty ramen cups. He pulled out a trash bag and filled it up with the ramen cups. He then grabbed the non-used ramen cups and put them back in the cupboards. After he was done with that he started to pick up his cloths and put then in his dresser. The bed was then returned to its normal condition. He re-made his bed and picked up the hand-made seat cushions. It took him quite awhile but he ended up cleaning his apartment. The only thing that he did not touch was a note that had been left in his room. It read: Get out now bakemono. Naruto had been given messages like this quite often and just tossed it out. He then got into his night cloths and went to bed.


	6. CH6 New Arrivals and New Rivals

When morning came Naruto woke up to the sounds of his alarm clock. He went to his bathroom and took off his night cloths. He stepped into the shower and began to wash himself. When he got to his stomach he took off the bandages that covered the seal. Usually the seal did not show itself unless he was using his chakra. But all night long he had not used his chakra but the seal was showing very visibly. He pondered at why the seal was showing itself now even though he had not used any chakra. He decided to ask Iruka-sensei when he got to school. After he finished his shower he stepped out and dried himself off. When he was done with that he dressed for the day in his usual exuberant clothing. He made himself a piece of toast and rushed out to his normal spot for his morning rest.

While Naruto was walking he kept one eye out for anyone who looked suspicious. He looked for anyone that might look at him differently because of the incident last night. As he was walking he noticed two guys looking at him with angry faces. He made a mental note to ask Iruka-sensei about them when he got to school. He made it to the abandoned park and went to the center. When he got there he lay down in the grass to let the wind blow over him. Again the birds that were greeting the day were Naruto's only company. He closed his eyes and began to daydream. He dreamt that he was the Hokage and he was giving orders out to the shinobi of the village. They accepted his orders without hesitation and jumped out into the night to do their missions. He walked back into his office and sat down at his desk. He began to go over some miscellaneous papers and mission reports. He looked into the mirror nearby to see his reflection but instead of seeing himself wearing the Hokage shoal he saw the Kyubi.

"One day we will meet," said the Kitsune in a horrible growling voice.

Naruto woke up with a start and looked around. No one was there and the day was beginning to drag into evening. He knew that he was almost late. He decided to use some chakra to get to school even though he would still be late. Instead of his usual amount of chakra that he used to run faster he ended up using a different kind of chakra. This allowed him to run at tremendous speeds. In order to keep himself from running into anyone or anything he decided to take it to the roofs of Konoha. He used his chakra to jump up and immediately he passed the roof. He had flown so high up that he could see all of Konoha. He was lucky to have had his jump launch him straight towards the academy. He saw the last of the students going into the academy as he began his descent. He noticed that Iruka-sensei was looking around as if waiting for someone to come. Then the bell rang and he shook his head and began to walk to the academy.

"Ooi, Iruka-sensei!" screamed Naruto as he tried to stabilize his descent.

Iruka-sensei looked around trying to find Naruto but could not see him anywhere in sight.

"Up here Iruka-sensei!" screamed Naruto.

Naruto was falling so fast that he was sure that if he didn't do something he would smash into the ground below. He made a few hand seals in order to muster up some chakra. "Fuuton!" shouted Naruto as a gust of air enveloped him. He was descending now but at a slower pace. He almost hit the ground when the gust of air surged upward. This allowed Naruto to make a soft landing.

"N-Naruto what happened?" asked Iruka-sensei as he looked up to see if he jumped off of anything. There was nothing around that was tall enough to help Naruto achieve the height that he had attained.

"I don't know but a few seconds ago I was in that park that you found me in yesterday," said Naruto as he looked back in the direction that he had came from.

"But that would have taken a lot longer for you to get here than just a few seconds," said Iruka-sensei.

"Yeah well I had to use some chakra to get to the school before the bell rang," said Naruto. "But it looks like I used too much and ended up flying here instead of running here."

"How much chakra did you use?" asked Iruka-sensei in amazement.

"Must have been a whole bunch if I was able to jump that distance," said Naruto as he scratched the back of his head.

"How did you land?" asked Iruka-sensei.

"I used a Jutsu that I learned from the forbidden scroll to manipulate the air around me and create a soft landing," said Naruto as he looked at the ground. All around Iruka-sensei and him was an area of ground where it looked like all the loose sand and gravel had been blown away.

"Just how many Jutsu did you learn from that scroll?" asked Iruka-sensei as he gave Naruto a stern look.

"Only the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu and a few basic element Jutsu," said Naruto as he put up his hands in mock defense.

"Well Naruto just don't make a habit out of learning Jutsu from the forbidden scroll," said Iruka-sensei as he got a bit annoyed. "And get to class!"

Naruto didn't need to be told twice. He ran inside and turned into his classroom. The others saw this and began to laugh at Naruto who raised his arms up as if he was declared victor in a boxing match. He then took his seat near Hinata and waited for Iruka-sensei to come in.

"I was worried about you," said Hinata.

"I just fell asleep at the spot and woke up a bit late," said Naruto. "No need to worry about it."

Iruka-sensei came into the room and everyone went silent. He then walked up to the front of the room and picked up a clipboard from his desk.

"I will now call your names in groups of three," said Iruka-sensei. "After you receive your group designation, proceed outside and your new instructor will be waiting for you."

All of the students waited tentatively for their names to be called.

"First … Rock Lee, Ten-Ten, Neji," The three of them walked outside to their waiting instructor. "Next … Ino, Shikamaru, Chouji," The three of them then walked outside. "Kiba, Shino, Hinata," Hinata got up with a sad look on her face and looked at Naruto. Naruto just gave her a smile and a thumb up even though he wished that he was put on her team. "Sakura, Sasuke, Naruto." Naruto got up and proceeded outside behind his new teammates. When he got outside the man that had come to get the scroll back last night was waiting for them.

"I want you to meet me up on the roof of the academy in five minutes," said the man as he disappeared in a swirl of leaves. Naruto and his two teammates looked at each other with confused looks. They then dismissed the awkward exit of their new sensei and proceeded up to the roof of the academy. When they opened the door to the roof they did not see their sensei waiting for them. They walked over to the edge of the roof where two benches. They sat down on one of the benches and waited for their sensei to come. They had waited for thirty minutes before a swirl of leaves dumped out Kakashi.

"Sorry I'm late," said Kakashi as he held up an apologetic hand.

"You're the one who told us to come up here in five minutes and your thirty minutes late!" yelled Naruto.

"Naruto shut-up," said the girl to his right as she punched him in the back of the head.

"Ow, Sakura-chan that hurt," said Naruto as he rubbed the back of his head.

Sakura was slightly taller than Naruto and had flamboyant pink hair that trailed down past her shoulders. She had soft green eyes and wore her leaf shinobi headband on the top of her head and tied it behind her neck. She wore a red sleeveless dress that parted from the sides of the waist down. She wore a pair of black shorts and blue sandal-shoes. She kept looking towards the other boy that had been placed on her team.

Naruto looked over at the other boy and a dismal look spread across his face.

This boy was liked by every single girl in their class … except Hinata of course whom liked Naruto. He had jet black hair that strutted backwards and wore his leaf shinobi headband in a fashion similar to Naruto's, tied up like a regular headband. He wore a blue shirt that had the symbol of his clan on the back. The clan symbol looked like a Japanese fan with the bottom part white and the top part red. He wore white shorts and had bandages that covered his feet and also wore sandal-shoes. He sat there with his head behind his folded hands staring at Kakashi. Naruto disliked the boy named Sasuke with almost every fiber in his being.

"Looks like I got an interesting bunch of kids for my team," said Kakashi. "Now for starters… I want you three to tell me your name, your likes, your dislikes, and your life goal.

"Alright me first!" yelled Naruto.

"Fine, fine you first," said Kakashi as he smiled.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki and I like those instant ramen cups but I don't like the time you have to wait for the water to soften the noodles," said Naruto as he counted things off on his fingers. "As for my life goal I'm going to become Hokage."

"Pretty ambitious there kid," said Kakashi.

"Hey you sound familiar," said Naruto as he eyed Kakashi suspiciously.

Sakura and Sasuke looked at Naruto with a little bit of anticipation.

"Hey I know you, you're that A…" began Naruto before Kakashi flashed towards him and covered his mouth with his hand.

"Haha kids these days saying the weirdest things," said Kakashi.

"Well that's Naruto for you," said Sakura as she sighed. "One more thing … how come we have to answer these questions but you don't."

"Hey yeah," said Naruto as he freed himself form Kakashi's grasp.

"Fine, fine," said Kakashi in defeat. "My name is Kakashi Hatake … what I like is none of your business, what I dislike is none of your business." "As for my life dream … I'm not going to tell you."

Both Naruto and Sakura just stared at Kakashi with dumb looks on their faces.

"That was stupid," said Naruto.

"Well I'm not really obligated to tell you anything about me," said Kakashi. "Now you, on the far right tell us about yourself."

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke and I will not tell you what I like or dislike," said Sasuke in a dismal tone. "As for my goal in life I'm going to kill a certain someone and revive my clan."

Naruto was shocked that Sasuke was already prepared to kill someone this early. Kakashi lifted his eyebrow in surprise.

_So he is serious about his clan_ thought Kakashi as he lowered his eyebrow.

_Oh Sasuke is so cool_ thought Sakura as her inner-self pumped her fist into the air.

_I want some ramen_ thought Naruto as his stomach growled.

"Now for you on the left," said Kakashi as he nodded his head in Sakura's direction.

"Well my name is Haruno Sakura," said Sakura, "and I dislike Naruto."

Naruto just glared at Sakura.

"As for what I like," said Sakura as she began to twiddle her fingers and glance at Sasuke. "…Is … and my life goal is to." She trailed off but kept glancing at Sasuke.

_This is a very interesting team_ thought Kakashi through a sigh.

"Okay… I want you all to meet me at the seventh training field tomorrow morning," said Kakashi as he got up. "Oh and don't eat breakfast."

"Why not Kakashi-sensei?" asked Sakura.

"Because you will probably throw it all up during the training," said Kakashi as he disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

All three genin exchanged shocked glances with each other.

"You don't think he meant that do you?" asked Sakura.

"He looked pretty serious to me," said Sasuke.

"How could you tell with that mask in the way?" asked Naruto in an annoying tone.

"It's called reading someone's eyes dumbass," said Sasuke as he walked away.

Naruto got angry with this and decided to take a different route down. He jumped off the roof and landed safely at the bottom of the academy. "Tch… idiot," said Naruto as he put his hands in his pocket. He began to walk home when he thought of something. "Hey maybe Hinata is at the park," said Naruto to himself. He turned around and dashed off for the park.

By the time Naruto had gotten to the park it was just about noon. He looked around for Hinata but could not find her.

"Dang I was hoping she would be here," said Naruto as he snapped his fingers. "I should probably get my shinobi license now."

Naruto walked to the Hokage office in order to get the license that showed he was a genin and was allowed D-rank and C-rank missions. When he arrived he noticed some kids coming out with their licenses. When he walked inside he was directed to a room in order to get his picture taken. The room he entered was a pretty normal room, save for the blue drape in the back with someone standing behind a camera. The last of the new genin left the room when Naruto headed over to the camera.

"Alright you should be the last one for today just sit down and don't make a fool of yourself in front of the camera," said the man.

"Yeah, yeah oji-san," said Naruto as he sat down.

"Kids," said the man through a sigh as he set up the camera.

Naruto held as still as he could and put on a serious face while the cameraman took his picture. He got his shinobi license and headed off towards the room where he would get his license stamped. He stepped into the room and saw that the Hokage was there along with two of the village elders.

"Sit down there Naruto and let us see your license," said the Hokage.

"Hai," said Naruto as he handed the pass to the Hokage. He then walked over to the stool and sat on it.

The Hokage and the two elders began to look over the pass when a creak of a floorboard was heard outside. Naruto turned his head towards the door and the Hokage shifted his gaze towards the door. The door suddenly flew open and a kid wearing a green shirt, blue pants, a metal cap, and a cape came running in brandishing two shuriken.

"This time I'm going to beat you oji-san," yelled the child.

_Ugh my grandson is at it again_ thought the Hokage as he tipped down his shoal.

The kid ran towards the Hokage. Along the way he tripped over his cloak and landed, headfirst, on the floor.

"Ouch, that hurt," said the kid as he rubbed his face. "You tripped me didn't you," said the kid as he turned on Naruto.

"I'm all the way over here how could I have tripped you?" asked Naruto.

"I don't know but I want to fight you now," said the kid.

"Hey kid what is your problem I didn't do anything to you why do you want to fight me?" yelled Naruto as he grabbed the kid.

"You can't do anything to me because I'm Konohamaru, the Hokage's grandson!" yelled the kid.

Naruto froze for a second when Konohamaru said this.

_He's just like everyone else … never doing anything whenever I tell them that I'm the grandson of the Hokage_ thought Konohamaru.

"I don't care if you're the fucking founder of Konoha you brat!" yelled Naruto as he knocked out Konohamaru.

Just then someone else walked into the room.

"Oh no … Konohamaru," said the man as he ran over to Konohamaru who was just regaining consciousness. _It's that demon child _thought the man as he helped Konohamaru up. "What did he do you to?" asked the man as he patted the dust off of Konohamaru. This man wore the traditional garb for every chuunin from the hidden village of the leaf. To stand out he wore sunglasses and his leaf shinobi headband was worn as bandana.

"Nothing serious Ebisu," said the Third.

"But Hokage-sama," pleaded Ebisu.

"Aw he had it coming to him," said Naruto as he folded his arms. Naruto then got up, took his license, and shoved it in his back pocket.

"I'm going to teach you a lesson for hitting the young master," said Ebisu.

"Oh yeah, what's a guy like you going to do to me?" asked Naruto as he folded his arms.

"I'm quite skilled in many Jutsu," said Ebisu as he adjusted his sun glasses.

"Well so am I," said Naruto as he placed his hands together for a Henge.

"What will a simple Henge do to me?" asked Ebisu through a chuckle.

"Oiroke no Jutsu!" screamed Naruto as a puff of smoke enveloped his body. The smoke began to dissipate and Naruko began to blow kisses towards Ebisu. "How do you like this?" asked Naruko in a seductive manner. All the men in the room immediately fell backwards from blood rockets coming from their noses except Konohamaru.

_If I were to ever fight Naruto and he used that technique on me I daresay he might beat me_ thought the Hokage.

_Wow that Jutsu took out Ebisu-sensei and oji-san_ thought Konohamaru as he looked, wide eyed, at Naruto who left the room. Konohamaru immediately followed after him.

Naruto was walking through an empty street after leaving the Hokage building when he noticed something odd on the fence he was walking past. The lines of the fence did not match up to the lines of the rest of the fence and an odd object bulged from the fence.

"I can see you so come out," demanded Naruto as he halted in his movement.

"As expected of my aniki," said Konohamaru as he came out from behind the poorly made disguise.

"A-aniki?" stuttered Naruto as he took a step back.

"Yeah, from now on you are going to be teaching me," said Konohamaru as he stepped up to Naruto.

"Fine, fine what do you want me to teach you?" asked Naruto through a sigh.

"First teach me that Jutsu that you used on Ebisu-sensei and oji-san," said Konohamaru as his eyes it up.

"Well you need to have a model to go by in order to get yours to come out right," said Naruto as he stroked his chin. "Go by this store and pick up this book and meet me in the abandoned park in one hour," said Naruto as he wrote down something on a piece of paper.

"Hai aniki," said Konohamaru as he took the piece of paper and dashed off.

An hour later Naruto was in the abandoned park again and was awaiting the arrival of his new "apprentice" with little anticipation. Konohamaru finally came into view. He was running and his face was flushed.

"Ooi what's wrong?" asked Naruto as he got up from his seated position.

"Th-this book … is a d-d-d-dirty book aniki," stuttered Konohamaru.

"Yeah … so," said Naruto bluntly.

"If oji-san catches me with this I'll be in big trouble," said Konohamaru as he calmed himself.

"Why?" asked Naruto.

Konohamaru just looked at him dumbfounded at his response. "You're kidding right?"

"Forget get it … did you look in the book?" asked Naruto.

"Yeah," whispered Konohamaru.

"Well show me one of the women in the book," said Naruto as he sat back down and folded his arms. Konohamaru began to leaf through the book to find a good picture of one of the women. "No not that way … I mean transform into one of them," said Naruto as he waved his hands at Konohamaru.

"Henge," said Konohamaru as he turned into a fat version of one of the women in the book, "Like this?"

"No, no, no you got to be curvier," said Naruto as he made an hourglass shape in the air with his hands.

Konohamaru redid the Henge, this time with slightly better results. The body turned out a lot better but the face still looked slightly like Konohamaru's.

"Listen Konohamaru, you need to make the body look like a female version of yourself otherwise it isn't truly an Oiroke no Jutsu," said Naruto as he got up again. "Watch this … Oiroke no Jutsu!" A shroud of smoke enveloped Naruto for a split second. When it dissipated a Naruko was standing where Naruto should have been. Instead of being fully nude, Naruto made Naruko wear the cloths that he had been wearing. He was then enveloped in smoke again but this time returned to looking like Naruto after the smoke vanished. "Now you try it."

Konohamaru did as he was told and this time created a pretty decent Oiroke no Jutsu. Naruto was pleased that his niji was advancing this fast. When Konohamaru turned back to himself Ebisu landed in between them.

"Young master I can not allow you to associate with this … riff raff," said Ebisu as he glared at Naruto.

"Ebisu-sensei if I can beat you in a fight I want to have Naruto teach me from now on," said Konohamaru.

"What? No," stuttered Ebisu as Konohamaru got into the fighting position.

"Oiroke no Jutsu!" shouted Konohamaru as he turned into fem-Konohamaru.

"That technique won't work on me anymore," said Ebisu as he adjusted his sunglasses.

"Aniki what's wrong I thought I did the Jutsu perfectly?" asked Konohamaru as he turned back into himself.

"Let me give it a go," said Naruto as he got up and stood in front of Konohamaru and faced Ebisu.

"Your technique will not work on me as well," said Ebisu as a cold look spread across his face.

"I'm sick and tired of everyone in the village always giving me this cold look whenever they look at me," said Naruto as he clenched his fists. "They never seem to see the real me."

"Aniki," muttered Konohamaru under his breath.

"That's why I'm going to become Hokage," said Naruto as he extended his fist towards Ebisu. "That way people will have to recognize me." Naruto then drew his fists together to do a Jutsu.

"I have to warn you I am a jounin so none of your genin tricks will work on me," said Ebisu as he smiled.

"Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu … Oiroke no Jutsu," said Naruto as he placed his hands together to make a few dozen shadow clones and seconds later all the Narutos did a henge to transform into Narukos.

"Do you think you can defend against this," said one of the Narukos as she clutched onto Ebisu's neck.

"You like this don't you," said another Naruko as she clutched onto Ebisu's left leg.

"How about this … or this … maybe this … you like this don't you," said the other Narukos as they surrounded Ebisu.

"Eh … huh … what … no … ah ... not this," stuttered Ebisu as his blood pressure began to rise to violent proportions.

"Aw do you hate us?" asked a Naruko in a cute voice.

"Noooooo!" screamed Ebisu as he received a super blood rocket and flew into a tree.

A plume of smoke revealed a laughing Naruto. He fell to the ground clutching his sides and laughed. Soon after he got up and sat back down on the log.

"That was great aniki," said Konohamaru as he smiled at Naruto.

"I guess my technique also needs improving," said Naruto.

"I want you to train me so I can become Hokage," said Konohamaru.

"I can't do that niji," said Naruto.

"Why won't you teach me?" asked Konohamaru. Ebisu recovered from his moment of weakness and snuck up to the two kids.

"Becoming a Hokage requires a lot of hard work and determination Konohamaru," said Naruto. "That is something that I can not teach you … you must learn it for yourself."

Ebisu halted in his attack on Naruto and hid himself behind a nearby tree. _He seems to know what he's talking about … I've tried to teach this to the young master but he never listens he always wants the short way out of things_ thought Ebisu.

"I see what you're saying … Ebisu-sensei has been trying to teach me this also but I never believed him," said Konohamaru.

"You have to work hard and learn a lot of Jutsu," said Naruto. "I don't like that ero-sensei of yours but he probably knows his stuff. You should learn from him."

_He praises me even though he knew I hated him _thought Ebisu. _Maybe he is not the bakemono I thought him to be._

"It's getting late so I'm going to head home," said Naruto.

"When I get stronger I'm going to want to fight you," said Konohamaru.

Naruto just walked out of the forest and waved at Konohamaru showing that he accepted the promised fight. Ebisu then stepped out of his hiding spot and stood next to Konohamaru watching Naruto as he left.

"I guess he's not so bad after all," said Ebisu as he placed a hand on Konohamaru.

"No," said Konohamaru as he closed his eyes. Ebisu looked down at Konohamaru. "He's better."


	7. CH7 For Whom the Bells Toll

Naruto turned out of the forest and began to walk home. He passed quite a few people on his way home and noticed that some of them had stopped giving him those hate stares. Even though some of them stopped, a lot more still gave him those hate stares. Naruto reached his apartment at about two or three o'clock. He reached for his door handle but remembered he forgot to unlock his door. He reached into his pocket and drew out his apartment key. He pushed it into the lock but instead of turning it he noticed the door was open. _So they're resorting to breaking into my house now_ thought Naruto as he walked inside.

"So this is that kid's apartment?" asked a mysterious voice.

"Yes it is and I ask you try not to be too messy," said a second voice.

"Ooi what are you doing in my home?" screamed Naruto as he jumped out from the doorway.

"Oh Naruto I did not expect you home this soon," said the first man whom Naruto found out was Kakashi.

"Sorry Naruto but Kakashi needed to find out a bit about you three before you became his genin disciples," said the second voice that Naruto immediately recognized as the Hokage.

"H-Hokage-sama…" stuttered Naruto as he got a bit wide eyed.

"Don't worry Naruto we did this to Sasuke's and Sakura's houses," said the Hokage as he lifted up a hand to dismiss Naruto's shock.

"You know Kakashi-sensei you could have just found me and asked me more about me," said Naruto turning on Kakashi.

"Well I didn't think you would be up to the task of telling me about yourself," said Kakashi as he held up his hands in mock defense.

"Why the hell not?" said Naruto getting a little bit mad.

"Now, now no need to get angry," said Kakashi.

"I'm sorry," said Naruto. "It's just that when I saw the door open I expected my apartment to be ransacked again."

"Again?" asked the Hokage. "Who did it the first time?"

"I'm not really sure but I think it might have been these two guys, who hang out in front of that book store about five blocks north of here," said Naruto as he pointed out his window.

"I'll have to send someone to talk to them," muttered the Hokage in an inaudible whisper.

"No don't do that," said Naruto. "I can handle it myself."

The Hokage glanced at Kakashi who looked a bit surprised. Kakashi had barely heard what the Hokage had said and he was standing right next to him. He was curious how Naruto had heard it across his apartment albeit a very small apartment.

"How did you hear that?" asked the Hokage

"I don't really know but lately I've been able to hear people when they are whispering," said Naruto. "Is it because I'm a … a … bakemono?" asked Naruto.

"Of course not," said the Hokage. "You are just developing your chakra more. It is a chuunin level Jutsu where you place chakra into your ears and it heightens your auditory sense."

"Oh you mean like that one guy with the dog who can smell really good?" asked Naruto as his face lit up.

"It's well … not good Naruto, but yes something like that," said Kakashi trying to correct his grammar.

"Cool, I'll have to see if I can do it with my other senses," said Naruto as he placed his hands together. He coupled the last two fingers and kept the first three straight up.

"Best not to try it now Naruto," said Kakashi as he placed a hand on Naruto's hands.

"Why not?" asked Naruto.

"Because you should get ready for my test tomorrow," said Kakashi.

"Oh right," said Naruto as he parted his hands.

"With that we will be leaving," said the Hokage.

Naruto waited for the two men to leave his apartment before he got undressed and stepped into his bathroom. He turned on the faucet to his shower and waited for the water to become warm. He then stepped into the shower and let the water wash over him. He was relieved to find out that his enhanced hearing was normal. Although the Hokage and Kakashi had told him that it was normal, it was, in reality, anything but normal.

"Do you think it was wise to tell him that his enhanced sense was chakra based?" asked Kakashi as he turned his head towards the Hokage.

"It is still not the right time to tell him fully about Kyuubi Kitsune," said the Hokage as he shook his head.

"I know Hokage-sama, but in Iruka's report he stated that Mizuki told Naruto of the Kyuubi," said Kakashi.

"I know this as well Kakashi but if Naruto can not handle the information I'm afraid that he might indeed run off somewhere," said the Hokage. "At this very moment Naruto thinks that Mizuki just lied to him."

Kakashi-sensei and the Hokage continued their walk from Naruto's house towards the Hokage building.

Naruto had finished with his shower and began to dry himself off when he noticed that his bandages were glowing again. This time he was able to take off the bandages to check his seal. When he striped off the last piece of bandages the red glow had ceased. The same black seal was present upon Naruto's abdomen. He rubbed the seal a bit and forced some chakra through him but the seal did not glow.

"I guess I have to be thinking about that dumb fox," said Naruto to his reflection. At that moment his stomach began to growl furiously. "Hehe I guess I'm hungry." Naruto then went out of his bathroom and put on his night cloths. He proceeded over to his stove and turned on one of the burners. Naruto then pulled out a pot from one of his cupboards and filled it with water. He set the pot on top of the burner and got out an unused ramen cup from his top cupboard. He then went over to his bed and pulled out a futon from under it. Naruto then placed it at his table that he conjured from one of his scrolls in the center of his apartment. By the time this was done the water in the pot had begun to boil. Naruto opened up his ramen cup and poured the water into it. He set the ramen cup on the table and took out a pair of chopsticks from a drawer in his kitchen.

"Today has been a really weird day," said Naruto. He went to the table with his chopsticks and sat down. He lifted up his ramen cup and stirred the noodles around inside of it. "Itadakimasu," whispered Naruto as he began to eat his supper alone. As soon as he was finished he brushed his teeth and went to bed. "Hopefully I don't have that same dream tonight because I'll need all the rest I can get." At that Naruto fell fast asleep.

When morning came Naruto awoke by the sound of birds. He got up out of bed and went to his bathroom. He got undressed and went into the shower. He then turned on the water and let it splash over him. Soon after he lathered some soap into his hands and washed his hair. After that he began to wash his body. His seal was glowing faintly but Naruto did not notice this. After he was done washing his body he showered himself off and then turned the shower off. He got out of the shower and dried himself off. After that he brushed his teeth and got dressed in his usual attire. He then went outside and locked his door. Naruto then headed off towards the training ground for his first assignment as a genin of the Hidden Village of the Leaf.

When he got to the training grounds he found that Sakura and Sasuke were already there.

"Am I late?" asked Naruto as he walked up to his teammates.

"No you're a little early but we don't know where Kakashi-sensei is," said Sakura.

"I just want to get this over with," said Sasuke.

"That's not the kind of attitude I want to hear," said Kakashi-sensei.

The three genin spun around and saw that Kakashi had appeared right behind them. He gave a short wave before walking out into the center of the field.

"I have a simple challenge for you today," said Kakashi-sensei as he took out two bells. "I want you to grab these bells from me by noon." As he said this he tied the bells to one side of his belt loops. "The person who does not get a bell will not be eating lunch today."

"That's not fair Kakashi-sensei," screamed Naruto as he threw his fists towards the ground.

"Is that why you told us not to eat breakfast this morning?" asked Sakura.

"That is precisely the reason Sakura," said Kakashi.

"Aw man I didn't even eat dinner last night … stupid diet," said Sakura as she rubbed her stomach.

"Now I want you to come at me with the intent to kill or you will not pass this test," said Kakashi.

"What happens if we don't pass the test?" asked Sasuke.

"You fail, and you go back to the rank of academy student," said Kakashi-sensei.

All three of the genin were shocked by what Kakashi-sensei had said. If they could not pass his test then they would be forced to become academy students again.

"And … go," said Kakashi as he took out a book from a satchel on his back belt loop.

All three genin took off in separate directions trying to find a place to hide from Kakashi. Sasuke took position up a tree about forty feet away from Kakashi. Sakura hid in some bushes about twenty feet from Kakashi. Naruto was no where to be seen.

"I see Sakura and Sasuke paid attention in stealth tactics but I can't seem to find Naruto," muttered Kakashi as he quickly glanced around the field. "He can't be that good … can he?"

Sasuke looked around and barely noticed a stray shadow near the shadow of some bushes. He looked closer and saw pink hair which he determined must be Sakura's hair. When he saw Kakashi he somehow knew that Kakashi knew where he was so he decided to go to a different hiding place. His new spot was somewhere near a grove of trees near the edge of the river that cut through the field. Just then something caught his eye. A glimmer of sunlight on metal came from in the river. Sasuke peered into the river and noticed a set of kunai attached to some string in the water.

_I wonder why Kakashi-sensei put a trap in the river when we are fighting on land_ thought Sasuke as he looked closely at the trap.

Kakashi decided to look around for a trace of where Naruto could be. He followed to where Sasuke's new hiding spot was. He noticed a patch of light move on Sasuke's face. He saw Sasuke look into the river nearby and a puzzled look came over Sasuke's face. Kakashi decided to look in the river thinking that Naruto might be in the river. When Kakashi began to walk towards the river where Sasuke was hiding Sasuke jumped, yet again, to find a new hiding spot. While this was happening Sakura looked on with a sense of longing to help her beloved Sasuke but she was also torn with the thought of failing the test if they could not get the bells.

"If you can't get the bells by noon you fail the test!" yelled Kakashi as he neared the river's edge.

Just then the trap, which Sasuke had seen in the river, had sprung and five kunai were launched out of the water towards Kakashi. Kakashi instantly dropped his book and took out a kunai and deflected three out of five kunai. Two of the kunai that he deflected hit the remaining two kunai causing them all to fall at his feet. Kakashi bent down and saw a piece of paper attached to one of the kunai. The paper had a picture of Naruto pulling down the skin of one of his eyes and sticking his tongue out. Kakashi flipped the paper over and saw the seals for an exploding tag on the back of it. He quickly took the kunai and threw it into the air. The paper began to burn and then it exploded a few feet into the air.

"Very clever Naruto … very clever indeed," said Kakashi as he made sure the other kunai didn't have any tags on them.

Sasuke saw the explosion from his new hiding spot inside of a large rock cluster. Sasuke thought that Naruto wasn't good enough to set such an intricate trap like that but apparently he was wrong. Just then Sasuke heard a voice from behind him.

"Hey Sasuke I need your help," said the voice.

Sasuke quickly spun around with kunai in hand.

"Relax Sasuke it's only me," said the voice.

"Who's there?" whispered Sasuke as he looked around.

"It's me Naruto," said Naruto as his head popped out of one of the rocks.

"I-Is that a Henge?" asked Sasuke. He looked at the rock that Naruto's head had erupted from and saw that it was a real rock, not a fake one.

"No, I'm inside the rock," said Naruto as he popped the rest of his body out.

"How is that possible?" asked Sasuke.

"I learned quite a bit from the forbidden scroll," said Naruto as he looked around to make sure Kakashi wasn't eavesdropping.

"No one is allowed to look in that scroll but the Hokage," said Sasuke. "How did you get it?"

"I borrowed it for a day and trained with some of the Jutsu inside of it," said Naruto as he rubbed his nose. "That's beside the point though … I need your help if we are going to get those bells. My trap didn't work earlier."

"So you did set up that trap," said Sasuke.

"Yeah I did," said Naruto. "Now in a few minutes I'm going to send out some clones to attack Kakashi. At that moment when he jumps into the air to dodge them I want you to throw some kunai to get him near the river."

"Got it," said Sasuke with a nod.

"Alright I'm going to go tell Sakura her part of the plan," said Naruto as he dissolved into the rock.

"Tch his plan doesn't count for the fact that Kakashi might not jump when his clones rush him," said Sasuke with a smirk. "Besides clones are no danger to anyone since they aren't real."

Sakura was watching the few events unfold. She saw the explosion and suspected Sasuke of throwing an exploding tag at Kakashi. She was watching and waiting for the chance to grab at the bells attached to Kakashi's belt loops. When she drew out a kunai to begin her attack she heard a voice from underneath her.

"Hey Sakura can you move a bit over to the side?" said the voice.

Sasuke looked down with a puzzled look. _There can't be something be beneath me, I'm lying on the ground_ thought Sakura. She did as the voice asked though and rolled over to one side. Just then Naruto's head popped out of the ground right where Sakura was lying down.

"Thanks Sakura, it's really hard to move underground," said Naruto as he pulled the rest of himself out of the ground.

"H-How did you do that?" asked Sakura.

"No time to explain it's almost noon and I've got a plan to get those bells," said Naruto.

"You do?" asked Sakura as her face lit up.

"Yeah, when I grab Kakashi I want you to run up and grab the bells from his belt loop," said Naruto.

"How are you going to grab Kakashi?" Sakura asked.

"Don't worry about that part I've got it covered," said Naruto as he pounded his chest with his fist. Then Naruto dissolved into the ground and headed away from where Sakura was.

"That would have been creepy if it wasn't kind of cool," said Sakura under her breath. "No wait I like Sasuke not Naruto."

A few minutes later Naruto jumped from behind a tree into the center of the field.

"I'm ready to fight you Kakashi-sensei," yelled Naruto.

"Ara, a direct approach … how bold of you Naruto," said Kakashi.

Instead of a smart remark Naruto made the seal for his secret clone Jutsu.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu," yelled Naruto as five clones emerged from puffs of smoke near Naruto.

"Clones Naruto … you're going to have to do better than that," said Kakashi as he returned to reading his book. "I won't lose to mere replicas."

"You might think twice after my plan comes to fruition," said Naruto. "Daton!" said two Naruto's as they made a snake hand seal and dissolved into the earth. "Fuuton!" said the two other Naruto's as they made a bird hand seal and dissolved into the wind.

"What plan?" asked Kakashi.

"You'll see," said Naruto.

Suddenly the two remaining Naruto's rushed for Kakashi. Kakashi continued reading his book paying no attention to the clones until the got within range of him. He drew out a kunai and threw it at one which caused it to instantly disappear. The other Naruto took a swing at Kakashi but missed because Kakashi had side-stepped Naruto and placed his hands together forming the tiger seal.

"Oh crap," said Naruto as he looked behind him.

"That can't be what I think it is," said Sasuke from his hiding spot.

"Kakashi-sensei's got him now," said Sakura from her hiding spot.

"Hidden Taijutsu Ougi … Sennen Goroshi!" yelled Kakashi as he jabbed his forefingers into Naruto's hind end.

Naruto looked extremely uncomfortable and the shock of having something jabbed up his butt that also caused him to get launched in the air.

Sakura blushed a little bit and looked away.

"That … looked like it hurt," said Sasuke as he rubbed his own butt.

Just then the Naruto that was launched into the air disappeared into a puff of smoke.

"That one was a clone as well?" muttered Kakashi as he looked around.

"Ikuze!" yelled two Naruto's as they jumped out from the ground.

"From below!" yelled Kakashi as he jumped up into the air.

"This is the chance that Naruto was talking about!" said Sasuke as he jumped out from inside the rock cluster and threw five shuriken and five kunai at Kakashi.

Kakashi immediately looked to his right and saw the weapons hurtling towards him and dodged towards the river. Just then the remaining two Naruto's materialized out of the water. One jumped on to Kakashi's back and held his hands together while the other grabbed his legs.

"Now it's my turn," said Sakura as she dashed forward towards Kakashi.

"I don't think so," said Kakashi as he disappeared into a puff of smoke leaving the two Naruto's holding on to a log.

"Kakashi used Kawarimi no Jutsu," said Sakura as she stopped dead in her tracks.

"Damn it," said Naruto as his last clone disappeared leaving him to throw the log into the river.

Sasuke walked out towards Naruto and Sakura with a kunai in his right hand. "We were so close too," said Sasuke as he threw his kunai into the ground.

"Ow," said a voice from inside the ground.

All three genin looked directly at the kunai as a bit of blood seeped out from the ground. Kakashi popped out of the ground where the kunai was with small wound on his hand.

"That was very good you three … but I won't be caught that easily," said Kakashi as he bandaged his hand.

"Sakura, Naruto get back!" yelled Sasuke.

Naruto and Sakura jumped backward as Sasuke swiftly made a few hand seals. He stopped on two significant seals, the horse and the tiger seal.

"You don't have enough chakra to do what I think you're going to do," said Kakashi as he looked at Sasuke.

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" yelled Sasuke as he placed his thumb and pointer finger near his mouth. Sasuke blew out hard and an enormous fireball engulfed Kakashi. Sakura and Naruto looked on in amazement at what Sasuke could do. The fireball subsided and neither Kakashi nor his charred remains were anywhere in sight.

"Where did he go?" asked Naruto.

The three of them looked around expecting to find Kakashi standing around mocking them at their feeble attempts to capture him. Just then Sasuke was pulled down into the ground leaving only his head above the ground. Kakashi jumped up out of the ground a second later.

"Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu," said Kakashi as he looked at Sasuke's head popping out of the ground. He then rounded on Naruto who backed up a few paces. Kakashi threw one end of a rope around Naruto's leg which instantly tied itself and threw the other end over a tree branch and pulled until Naruto was hanging upside down from the tree branch. Kakashi then turned on Sakura who began to shake in fright. Kakashi walked towards her ever so slowly. Sakura looked at Sasuke then at Naruto and fainting thinking what Kakashi might do to her.

A few moments later Sakura was woken by Kakashi. She looked around and saw the hole where Sasuke's head used to be and the rope that Naruto had been hung from.

"I didn't think that you would feint Sakura," said Kakashi as he walked over to where Naruto and Sasuke were sitting.

In front of Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi were four lunch packs. Sakura got up and walked over to sit beside Sasuke.

"So I guess we fail, Kakashi-sensei," said Naruto as he grabbed the lunches and began to pass them around.

"Of course we failed baka, we didn't get the bells from Kakashi," said Sasuke.

"At least we tried," said Sakura.

"You failed miserably at getting the bells from me … your plan was feasible at best … a chuunin could have taken you down," said Kakashi as he counted things off on his fingers. The three genin just looked at the ground. They were too disappointed to look at anything else. "But you passed," said Kakashi. He smiled at the three genin as they looked up at each other in surprise.

"How did we pass, we couldn't get the bells from you," said Naruto as he opened his lunch pack.

"The true purpose of the test was to see if you could work as a team," said Kakashi as he opened his lunch pack.

"That's so cool," said Sakura as her eyes lit up. _What a dork_ thought Sakura as her inner self beat up a fake Kakashi-sensei.

"I suppose it is," said Kakashi as he put down his empty lunch pack.

"When did you eat Kakashi-sensei?" asked Naruto.

"While you were looking at the ground … why do you ask?" said Kakashi.

"You eat too fast," said Sakura. "You should enjoy your meals otherwise you can get sick."

"On a different note," said Kakashi as he waved Sakura off. "Your first mission begins tomorrow morning so be at the Hokage building by … ten or eleven o'clock."

"Hai Kakashi-sensei," said Sakura as she set her lunch aside.

Sasuke picked up his lunch and Kakashi-sensei's lunch and threw them into a nearby trash can and walked away from his team.

"Well if that's all for today I guess that leaves me with some time to train," said Naruto as he got up and walked over to a nearby tree.

Sakura watched Sasuke leave and wanted to go with him but Kakashi had other ideas. Kakashi engaged Sakura in a conversation while Naruto picked out a suitable tree to practice on. He placed a hand on it and closed his eyes. He could almost feel the energy that was emanating from the tree.

"Mokuton," whispered Naruto as his hand melded with the tree. Naruto stepped forward into the tree and suddenly it was as if he was connected with the entire forest. Naruto could feel a strange presence with him inside the forest. It wasn't the animals or his chatting team member or his sensei. Something wasn't right; Naruto could tell that something was wrong within the forest. Just then Naruto was launched out of the tree and landed right in the middle of Kakashi and Sakura.

"Naruto you idiot!" screamed Sakura as she punched Naruto in the head.

Naruto got up, completely oblivious to the blow that Sakura struck him, and clutched his chest. He was breathing hard as if something stole the air right from his lungs.

"Are you okay Naruto?" asked Kakashi as he helped Naruto sit down.

"I-I'm fine Kakashi-sensei … just got a little carried away with a Jutsu," said Naruto as he calmed down. "It wasn't anything serious."

"Naruto if you don't know a Jutsu then don't do it," said Sakura.

"I know the Jutsu it's just I don't have it mastered yet," said Naruto as he glared at Sakura. "Something really weird happened when I did the Jutsu."

"What happened when you did the Jutsu?" asked Kakashi.

"I guess I just used too much chakra and it flung me over here," said Naruto.

"Dumb ass," said Sakura as she punched Naruto in the head again.

"Naruto maybe you should be more careful with your chakra control," said Kakashi.

"Yeah, maybe," said Naruto as he got up and began to walk away from Sakura and Kakashi.

"Hey where're you going Naruto?" asked Sakura as she turned her head towards Naruto.

"I'm meeting someone," said Naruto as he gave a backwards wave.

"That's odd," said Sakura as she turned back to Kakashi.

"Why is that?" asked Kakashi.

"Well … I just haven't known Naruto to have any friends," said Sakura.

"Maybe he's finally getting some," said Kakashi as he got up and left Sakura to ponder over her thoughts.


	8. CH8 Catching the Wave

A/N: First off ... I hope you like the story so far ... Second off ... well if you want to know the second thing read the rest of the chapter.

As Naruto walked towards the park he thought over what had happened when he merged with the tree. He had sensed something with him inside the tree. This thing had a power much greater than Naruto had ever seen.

"It might even be stronger than the Hokage," said Naruto as he entered the park. Naruto looked around to see if Hinata was there but he did not see anyone. "I guess she's too busy training," said Naruto as he sat down and began to fiddle with the grass. Soon after he sat down a gentle breeze draped over Naruto causing his hair to sway.

Naruto then took out something from his pocket. He looked over a hand made ocarina and lifted it up to his lips. He began to play a beautiful melody that filled the park around him. The breeze that had enveloped Naruto carried the song throughout Konoha. All of the villagers stopped what they were doing and listened to the melody that was echoing through the village. The shinobi stopped training and lifted their heads to the sky. The melody was uplifting to all. Soon Naruto stood up and began to move around in the blowing field of grass. He kept his song playing for quite a while. As he stopped playing his song he opened his eyes and noticed that many of the forest's animals had gathered around him to listen to his music. Naruto looked around and a smile stretched over his face.

Sakura was walking home when she heard the song that Naruto had played. She too had stopped and listened to the song. She noticed that everyone else had stopped too. She wondered what could be making that music. She jumped up on top of a two-story building and listened as hard as she could to the origin of the song. She noticed that the song was louder in the direction of an abandoned park. She jumped from roof to roof to get to the park. She heard the song loud and clear when she landed in the park. She walked towards the source of it and saw Naruto dancing in the middle of a field of tall grass. _No way can that bumbling fool dance that graceful_ thought Sakura as her jaw dropped. A few seconds later a few birds had flown near Naruto. Just then an assortment of other forest animals gathered around Naruto. Naruto had stopped playing and he began to look around. Sakura quickly hid behind a tree and began to walk out of the park.

"I guess Naruto isn't such a dork after all," said Sakura as she turned a corner and began to head home. "But he's still a dork," said Sakura quickly recovering from a comment towards Naruto. She continued to walk home in awe of what Naruto had done in the park. She never thought someone like him could do something like that.

"Ah well … I guess it's time for me to head home," said Naruto to the animals as he put away his ocarina and left the park. As he left the animals returned to what they were doing before Naruto had interrupted them. When Naruto left the park he noticed that a lot of the people in the village seemed to be really happy. _I guess today is a good day for them as well_ said Naruto as he continued to walk home. By the time he reached his apartment he noticed that absolutely no one had said or did anything bad to him. _Wow that must be a new record_ thought Naruto as he unlocked his door and walked inside. He closed the door and locked it behind him and put up a pot of water to boil. He then got out his table and seat cushions. As soon as his water came to a boil he opened up a container of instant ramen and poured the water inside. He set the ramen down on the table and poured himself a glass of milk. By the time he got back to the table his ramen was ready to be eaten. He grabbed a pair of chopsticks and began to eat his supper. He ate his supper in silence. When he finished he discarded the empty ramen cup and stepped into his bathroom to take a shower. He discarded his cloths into a nearby bin and stepped into the shower. He turned on the water and let it flow over him. He soon forgot about the world around him and just focused on the water coming out of the shower head. It sounded like rain to Naruto and he lost himself in this sound.

A moment later something happened that caused Naruto to jump. The water had stopped flowing from his shower head and the drops of water that had come out were suspended in mid air. Naruto took in a deep breath for he had unconsciously stopped breathing as he listened to the sound of the water. When he did this the water drops fell to the shower floor and more water started to come out of the shower head.

"That was really weird," said Naruto to himself as he began to wash himself. When he finished washing himself he got out of the shower and proceeded to dry himself off. He looked in his mirror and wiped off the steam from the hot shower. The image reflected in the mirror did not look like Naruto for a split second. Instead it looked like a different Naruto. The eyes were red, the whisker marks were more endowed, the hair much wilder than usual, and the face looked tauter. Naruto lifted his hand to his hair and felt that it was still like it usually is. When he did this the image of the other Naruto disappeared. Naruto just thought that he was tired so he got dressed and went straight to bed.

In the morning around nine o'clock Naruto woke up and quickly dressed for his first mission. He walked out into the morning air and locked his door behind him. He walked down the stairs and made his way toward the Hokage building. By the time he reached the building it was almost a quarter past nine. He would have a long time to wait but he did not mind since he was finally going on a mission. After a while his teammates showed up. They said their hello's and good morning's and waited for Kakashi to come by.

The deadline came up and Kakashi was not in sight. After about another thirty minutes Kakashi finally showed up.

"You're late again Kakashi-sensei," said Sakura with an accusatory look.

"Ano … gomen Sakura," said Kakashi as he rubbed the back of his head.

"I bet you were reading that smutty book of yours you pervert," said Naruto pointing and accusatory finger at Kakashi.

"Don't ever call Icha Icha Paradise smutty … it's a beautiful romance novel," said Kakashi as a mysterious light shown down upon him and angels began to sing.

"I still say it's smutty," said Naruto. The light and angel scene shattered and dissipated from behind Kakashi.

Kakashi just grumbled and began to walk towards the door that led to the mission assignment room. As he walked passed Naruto he thumped him on the head with his fist.

"God damn-it Kakashi-sensei … why'd you do that?" asked Naruto as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Someone said my book was smutty, and I got so angry that I had to take it out on the nearest person," said Kakashi as he walked into the mission assignment room.

"Idiot," said Naruto as Sakura, Sasuke, and he walked into the room behind Kakashi.

"Ah Kakashi I was wondering when you would come in to get your first mission for the group," said the Third.

"Yes we would like a D-rank mission please," said Kakashi, "Just to start them out on something easy."

"Alright then," said the Third as he filed through some papers. "Well it seems we've got a D-rank mission right here." He gave the file over to Kakashi who flipped through it.

"Alright then we'll take this one," said Kakashi as he gave back the file to the Third who stamped it as "in progress."

An hour later, in a nearby forested area, three genin were in hot pursuit of a shadowy figure.

"_Target sighted,_" said Sasuke over the headset transmission device.

"_I see him,_" said Sakura through the headset.

"_I'm in position,_" said Naruto through the headset.

"Alright," said Kakashi into the headset. "GO!"

The genin slipped out of their positions and jumped the figure. The figure looked up in shock and tried to get away but Naruto was too fast for the figure. Naruto jumped onto the shadow reveling it to be a cat. The cat shrieked in surprise and tried to get away but Naruto held on tight.

"You're not getting away that easily," said Naruto.

The cat then began to scratch at Naruto's face.

"Damn cat stop it," said Naruto as blood began to trickle down his face. He then gripped the cat harder with one arm and moved the other out. He then pinched a certain spot on the cat's neck causing it to go limp in his arms.

"You're not supposed to kill it Naruto," said Sakura as she swung at Naruto. Naruto quickly dodged the blow by rolling to one side.

"I didn't kill it … I just made it more docile," said Naruto as he held up the cat who mewed lazily.

"_From the reports I've gotten about you guys Naruto doesn't use that kind of sophisticated language,_" said Kakashi over the headset.

"Well when you have no one to hang out with as a child you tend to do other things like read books and train to pass the time," said Naruto. An awkward silence befell the team when Naruto said this. "Is this a forest or a cemetery?" asked Naruto as he got up with the cat and began to walk out of the forest. Sasuke and Sakura quickly followed suit and headed for the edge of the forest with Naruto to where Kakashi would be waiting. When they reached the edge of the forest they noticed Kakashi sitting on a tree stump reading his book.

"Alright Kakashi-sensei we've got the cat now let's get another mission," said Naruto as he handed the cat to Kakashi. The D-rank missions continued for a month after that before they finally got themselves a chance at a chuunin rank mission.

"C'mon Kakashi can't we get a better mission than walking someone's dogs?" asked Naruto as they headed into the mission assignment room.

"Naruto we can't get any better missions until we become chuunin," said Sakura through a sigh.

"That's dumb," said Naruto.

"It's not dumb Naruto," said Kakashi. "The mission assignments are set up that way so a genin doesn't get killed during a chuunin or jounin ranked mission."

A shiver ran up Naruto's spine when Kakashi had said that. "I guess that is a pretty smart thing to do," said Naruto as he folded his arms across his chest.

When they walked into the mission assignment room they noticed that someone was talking to the Third.

"Hey who's that?" whispered Naruto to Kakashi.

"Probably someone requesting help," said Kakashi.

"I'm going to need some help getting back because there are thugs and bandits after me," said the mysterious man.

"Ooi Kakashi-sensei can we take that mission?" asked Naruto, his eyes gleaming at the chance to fight some people.

"That will probably be a C-rank mission Naruto," said Kakashi. "And you're not ready for that yet."

"Please Kakashi-sensei," pleaded Naruto. "Those other missions are so boring."

"If you think you can handle it I won't try to stop you but since this is an escort mission I'm going to say one thing," said Kakashi as he held up his finger. Naruto was immediately silenced and the other two watched on curiously. "If you lose sight of the person we are supposed to be protecting I will drop you down to academy student faster than you can perform a henge. You got that?"

"H-Hai," stuttered Naruto.

"Hokage-sama my group will take the job of escorting him to his destination," said Kakashi as he walked up to the Hokage.

"Just those four?" asked the man.

"Is that going to be a problem?" asked the Hokage.

"Well … sort of," said the man as he fiddled with his hat.

"If you doubt my power then I will tell you that I am a jounin," said Kakashi as he placed his hand on his chest.

"I do not doubt your power," said the man as he placed his hat on his head. "It's just that I'm bringing with me a rather large amount of supplies to finish the bridge I am building and I wanted to make sure that all of it gets there in one piece."

"Oh you did not mention that you were going to be bringing a large load with you," said the Hokage.

"Yes my group has a large bundle of lumber and other supplies that we desperately need for the bridge," said the man.

"How many more will you need?" asked the Hokage.

"If your teams are as large as that then perhaps one more team should do it," said the man.

"That will double the price of our agreement," said the Hokage as he made some changes on the form that he was perusing.

"That's okay with me," said the man as he fished out a bundle of money from his pocket. He handed the second bundle to the Hokage just as the door to the mission assignment room opened.

All heads turned towards the door as four people entered the room. The first to enter was a woman around Kakashi's age with black hair, startling red eyes, red and white kimono-like clothing with a fishnet base. The second to enter was a boy around Sasuke's age. He wore a white coat that extended up past his face with brown pants that held a holster for assorted weapons. He wore black sunglasses and had his hair slicked back. The third to enter was also a boy around Sasuke's age. He wore a gray hooded sweatshirt that made his brown hair seem way longer than it actually was. He also wore gray shorts with the same holster for weapons. When he stopped next to the first boy a white puppy bobbed up from his sweatshirt and barked twice. The fourth person to walk in was Hinata who stood next to her team.

"Ah Kurenai just in time," said the Hokage.

"I did not know that you had summoned me Hokage-sama," said the woman.

"No, no I did not summon you it's just that your timing could not have been better to return from your mission," said the Hokage.

"Well we completed the mission fairly easily," said Kurenai as she walked up to the Hokage and gave him her mission report.

"I see," said the Hokage as he stamped a file "complete". "Now for the details of your timely arrival, we have a mission here that is too large for one ninja group to accomplish so I am asking that your group aid in the mission with Kakashi's group."

Kurenai looked to her left and saw that Kakashi's group was standing in the corner of the mission assignment room. Hinata glanced at Naruto then began to fiddle with her fingers. Sasuke took one look at the group and turned away with a "humph."

"What was that?" asked the shinobi with the dog. The dog started to growl at Sasuke.

"Kiba!" shouted Kurenai as she glanced back at the boy with the dog.

"Gomen Kurenai-sensei," said Kiba as he lowered his head and his dog whimpered once.

The other boy walked up to where the Hokage and the two jounin were discussing the upcoming mission. He stood to the right of Kurenai and looked over the mission report with them.

"This man asks for aid in returning his shipment of cargo to the wave country and assist in the final phases of the bridge production," said the Hokage.

"How much cargo is the man bringing with him," asked the boy. The Hokage looked from him to Kurenai.

"Shino likes to plan ahead for upcoming missions," said Kurenai sensei.

"The man is bringing with him a caravan of equipment probably ten to fifteen carts long," said the Hokage.

"If we place a Jounin at the second and twelfth carts and genin at the first, third, fifth, eleventh, thirteenth, and fifteenth and Akamaru at the eighth carts we can accurately guard them," said Shino.

"Actually I'm only bringing enough cargo for three carts," said the bridge builder.

"Then why do you need another shinobi team for this?" asked Kurenai sensei.

"The bridge is really important to the wave country," said the bridge builder, "if we get it built then it can finally be recognized as a strong shinobi country."

"I see," said Kurenai sensei as she glanced at Shino.

"A jounin in the front and back with the genin placed through out the middle will accurately defend the carts," said Shino.

"Then that's how will go," said Kurenai.

"Okay then," said Kakashi, "pack your things for an away mission and meet at the gate in one hour,"

"Hai," said the genin as they departed to get their things.

Naruto and Hinata were the last to leave the room. Hinata kept glancing at Naruto and blushed. Sakura looked back and giggled. This caused Naruto to blush a bit. They turned a corner to the door when Sakura pulled Naruto and Hinata aside.

"What do you want Sakura?" asked Naruto.

"I noticed back there that Hinata kept looking at you and blushing," said Sakura. This made Hinata blush a lot more.

"I noticed her blushing too but did you notice me blush when you looked away and giggled," said Naruto with a straight face.

"I just wanted to make sure you knew Naruto because I don't want you going around hurting other people's feelings," said Sakura.

"I would never do that to anyone," said Naruto. This made Sakura blush a little bit. She had not thought that Naruto knew that Hinata liked him.

"It's okay Sakura-chan he has not done anything to hurt me," said Hinata.

"I just wanted to make sure because this idiot does a lot of stupid stuff," said Sakura.

"I only did that because no one liked me," said Naruto. Both Hinata and Sakura were taken aback by what Naruto said. Sakura knew that Naruto always pulled pranks but she never knew why. Naruto then walked passed Sakura and headed towards his house. He packed a few essential things and anything too big or too much to fit in his bag he condensed down into scrolls. Naruto was never any good with chakra but he was grateful that he had a lot to use.

He left the apartment with his things and headed off to the gate. He got to the gate with plenty of time to spare. The caravan had not even arrived yet. Naruto set down his pack and crouched down next to the gate. He began to draw some pictures into the dirt next to him. By the time someone else had arrived he had almost drawn five bowls of ramen.

"I didn't know you liked ramen that much," said Hinata.

"Hehe yeah it's one of the best things in the world," chuckled Naruto as he scrubbed out the drawings with his foot after he got up. He then dusted the dirt off of his hands and leaned against the wall. "I missed you Hinata."

"I missed you too," said Hinata, as she blushed a bit.

Naruto walked up to Hinata and held her in an embrace. They locked together in a passionate kiss for a couple of minutes before Naruto sensed someone coming. He broke away from the kiss and tried to look nonchalant. Kiba and Shino showed up a few minutes later carrying two bags with them. Hinata started to blush but soon stopped. Kiba gave Naruto a weird look when he noticed that Hinata had been blushing.

"What did you do to her?" asked Kiba.

"What are you talking about?" asked Naruto.

"She was blushing. What did you do to her?" asked Kiba again.

"None of your business," said Naruto as he folded his arms and looked away from Kiba.

"It becomes my business when one of my teammates is involved," said Kiba. He walked up to Naruto and grabbed him by the collar of his jacket.

"Let go of me," said Naruto in a calm voice.

"Not until you tell me what you did to Hinata to make her blush," demanded Kiba.

"Geeze what are you? Her brother?" asked Naruto.

"No, but if you did something that she didn't want you to do then you'll be sorry," said Kiba as he clenched his other fist.

"Oh are you going to punch me?" asked Naruto in a mocking voice.

"That does it!" yelled Kiba. He brought his fist up ready to punch Naruto. Naruto sensed his intent and prepared a Jutsu. "Your ass is grass!"

Kiba threw his punch at Naruto. Naruto barely had enough time to perform the snake hand seal that he needed.

"Daton!" yelled Naruto as he dissolved into the wall that Kiba had held him up against.

"What the fuck," said Kiba in surprise. He did not have enough time to stop his punch, but he did have enough time to slow it down enough so that when he did hit the wall it did not hurt his hand.

Naruto appeared behind Kiba a few seconds later. Kiba whirled around to see Naruto branding a kunai right at his throat.

"If we were enemies you would be dead by now," said Naruto as he put away his kunai.

Sasuke and Sakura walked up to the group and looked around to see Naruto putting away his kunai Sakura then went up to Naruto and hit him on the head.

"Naruto you dumb ass what are you doing?" asked Sakura.

"He tried to punch me so I got out of the way of his attack and stopped him from throwing any other punches!" yelled Naruto as he pointed at Kiba.

Kiba just glared away from Naruto and walked over to the other side of the gate to be alone for a bit.

"He's not used to losing," said Shino as he walked up. "I'm curious though as to what Jutsu you used."

Kiba had walked back to the group after his moment of sulking.

"It was just a simple earth Jutsu," said Naruto.

"Where did you learn it?" asked Shino.

"Somewhere special," said Naruto.

"I don't know of any genin with that ability," said Sasuke.

"Well Kakashi-sensei knows it," said Naruto.

"I know what now?" asked Kakashi as he walked up to the group with Kurenai.

"That Jutsu where you become part of earth," said Naruto.

"Nope, can't say I do know that," said Kakashi.

"But then how did you pull me under the ground when you were underground," said Sasuke.

"That Jutsu just allows me to move through the ground for a short time. I can't actually become part of the earth," said Kakashi.

"This kid knows that Jutsu?" asked Kurenai.

"That and a few others that aided his group in almost completing the challenge of getting some bells from me," said Kakashi.

"Still doing that bell challenge?" asked Kurenai.

"Well it does teach the kids about teamwork," said Kakashi.

"What other Jutsu did he use against you?" asked Kurenai.

"Well he knows the Jutsu where he becomes part of wind, water, and nature," said Kakashi.

"Can he do the fire Jutsu?" asked Kurenai.

"I don't know … there really wasn't any fire around for him to do that in," said Kakashi. "Naruto can you enter fire as well?"

"Yeah," said Naruto.

"Where could he have learned all this?" asked Kurenai.

"Well Iruka's report of the day that Naruto had stolen the … certain item … stated that he had been using it all day to train," said Kakashi.

"Do you think he got _that_ far into it?" asked Kurenai.

"Most likely not," said Kakashi. "I don't sense anything that might say otherwise."

"What do you mean "I didn't get _that_ far"," asked Naruto.

"Oh nothing," said Kakashi.

"I hate it when you do that," said Naruto as he folded his arms.

"It looks like everyone is here then," said the bridge builder who was walking up to them with the three carts behind him. Everyone turned to look at him. The carts that he was bringing with them were quite longer than your average caravan cart. The carts were about five feet wide and eight feet long. He had used oxen to lug the cargo instead of horses because of the immense weight of the cargo. "Let's get going." Naruto quickly pulled Sakura aside.

"What do you want Naruto?" asked Sakura her face lit up in anger.

"Have you told anyone about me and Hinata?" asked Naruto.

"No. Why?" asked Sakura.

"Good keep it that way," said Naruto.

"Why?" Sakura persisted.

"Because I don't want anyone to hate Hinata like they hate me," said Naruto as he grabbed his pack. Sakura grabbed her pack as well and ran up to the group.

"Don't worry Naruto I won't tell anyone," whispered Sakura.

"Thanks Sakura-chan," whispered Naruto.

A/N: No there isn't going to be a Zelda crossover ... I just had Naruto have an ocarina because it's a beautiful instrument that easily displays emotions.


	9. CH9 The Bout Before the Storm

They all headed out of the village taking their positions around the carts. The rain from a couple of nights ago had evaporated the night before so the roads were easy to travel on. Except for the pounding of feet and hooves on the ground and the cart wheels there was no sound. A few hours later Naruto ran up to Kakashi.

"Hey Kakashi," whispered Naruto. Kakashi leaned in a bit to better hear what Naruto was saying. "Isn't it odd that there are no sounds from any animals?"

"I was wondering the same thing," said Kakashi as he eyed the surrounding area.

Naruto walked back to Kurenai and told her the same thing. Kakashi looked back towards Kurenai who nodded saying that Naruto had told her.

"What's up Naruto?" asked Sakura.

"Just a bad feeling that I've got," said Naruto as he began to scan the trees as well, "Kiba."

"What do you want?" said Kiba in a hoarse tone.

"The Hokage told me that you can smell really well … can you smell anything other than us and the stuff?" asked Naruto.

Kiba and Akamaru started to sniff at the air for a bit. Everyone waited in silence.

"I can't smell anything," said Kiba. Akamaru barked a couple times, "Neither does Akamaru."

"Let me see if I can sense anything," said Naruto as he placed his hands together to focus some of his chakra. Suddenly everything in the surrounding area became a lot clearer to Naruto. He could smell each individual person, plant, and animal. He could hear the slightest movements from the surrounding insects. Yet he still could not pinpoint the source of his worry. He put more chakra into his senses and soon even the slightest breeze a mile away could be heard. Then Naruto heard it, the thump of someone jumping through the trees. It was extremely faint and Naruto could barely hear it. He tried to smell in the direction that the sounds were coming from but he smelled only trees. Even when the smell was right on top of the sound he smelt only trees.

"That's how he's doing it," mumbled Naruto.

"What is he doing Naruto?" asked Kakashi.

"He disguised his scent as that of a tree and he is using his chakra to dampen the sound of his feet on the trees," said Naruto.

"How can you tell all that?" asked Kiba. "Your sense of smell isn't even as good as Akamaru's and mine."

"I put chakra into my senses in order to make them more powerful," said Naruto.

"Is it just the one?" asked Shino.

Naruto paused for a minute. "That's all I can sense."

"We should be able to fight him off," said Kakashi.

They were coming up to a bridge when Naruto noticed something else that was odd. There was a puddle on the ground when there was no other water elsewhere. They passed the bridge before Naruto decided to go up and tell Kakashi about the puddle. Kakashi was starting to put some things together but decided to keep his thoughts to himself.

Suddenly a group of six shinobi jumped out at them. The six shinobi threw kunai at all of them. The genin and Kurenai dodged the kunai while Kakashi jumped in front of the bridge builder and deflected the ones aimed at him. Suddenly two of the shinobi launched spiked chains at each other. They connected the chains together and ran for Kakashi. Before Kakashi could get out of the way he was tied up by the chains. The shinobi proceeded to dig the chains into Kakashi which caused him to get torn into pieces.

"Kakashi-sensei!" yelled Sakura as a shinobi cam running at her. She held up her kunai to defend herself but Sasuke came in and thrust his kunai into the shinobi's shoulder. The Shinobi fell to the ground clutching his shoulder and dropped the kunai that he was using. Two of the other shinobi were taken out by Kurenai. Kiba and Shino took out two more of the shinobi with their kunai. The last two shinobi started to run at Naruto. Naruto just stood there and didn't try to move. The two shinobi stretched out their chain to tie up Naruto and kill him as well. Just then Sasuke jumped in and threw a shuriken at the chain which caused the chain to fly backwards and embed itself into a tree. The two shinobi flew backwards to dislodge the chain from the tree. Sasuke saw this and threw a kunai through the chain and into the tree. The two shinobi ripped the kunai out but were knocked out by Kakashi.

"Kakashi … you're alive," said Sakura.

"I wanted to make sure who they were going for so I pretended to get killed," said Kakashi.

"That's so cool," said Sakura.

"You scared … bibi-kun?" asked Sasuke thinking that Naruto was frozen in fear.

"You ruined my trap," said Naruto.

"What trap?" asked Sasuke.

Just then two Naruto's came up out of the ground with kunai in their hands. "This trap," said one of the clones. They both then disappeared and Naruto headed over to Kakashi.

"What do you think they wanted?" asked Sakura.

Kakashi turned towards the bridge builder. "Him," said Kakashi.

"How do you know?" asked Sakura.

"Because a bulk of the kunai was directed at the bridge builder," said Naruto.

"Correct," said Kakashi. "So do you want to tell us why shinobi are after you instead of just robbers?"

"The bridge in my country is very important," said the bridge builder. "Without it my country will never prosper to the degree of the mainland countries."

"I see," said Kurenai as she walked up as well.

"You do know that with the new threat of shinobi this mission will rise from C-rank to A-rank don't you?" said Kakashi.

"I'm sorry I did not reveal this to you sooner but I thought that if I did you would not have helped me as easily as you did," said the bridge builder.

"Which is probably why you asked for the second team even though one would have been enough to protect against robbers," said Naruto.

"Yes," said the bridge builder.

Kakashi looked towards Naruto and sighed. _His first mission where he can prove himself and he won't even be allowed to do it because of the difficulty _thought Kakashi. "Ara … Naruto your hand," said Kakashi as he pointed to Naruto's hand.

"Huh?" mumbled Naruto as he lifted up his hand. It was bleeding profusely from a wound he must have received from a stray kunai during the fight. "It's nothing it'll heal in a bit."

"But it might have poison in it," said Kakashi.

"How do I get it out?" asked Naruto as his heart began to beat faster.

"You're going to have to bleed it out … take a kunai and pierce the wound more," said Kakashi.

"But…" mumbled Naruto.

"If you don't then you will have to seek medical attention back in Konoha," said Kakashi. Naruto made no move to open his wound more. "Well I guess we'll have to go back if you won't fix it now."

Naruto then took out a Kunai and stuck it deep into his hand causing blood to pour out onto the ground. "I will not back down from this. No matter what happens I will persevere. By this wound I swear that I will overcome any obstacle," said Naruto. He then took the kunai out and put it back into his weapon satchel.

"That's great and all but if you lose any more blood you will die," said Kakashi.

"But … I don't wanna die," said Naruto as his voice cracked. "Ah! Kakashi-sensei! Help me!"

"Calm down Naruto and give me your hand," said Kakashi.

Naruto extended his hand to Kakashi and waited for him to bandage it up. Kakashi began pulled out a long piece of white cloth and started to bandage Naruto's hand. Kakashi paused for a second and noticed that Naruto's cut was healing extraordinarily fast.

"Is something wrong Kakashi … I'm not going to die am I?" asked Naruto.

"No, you won't die," said Kakashi as he finished bandaging up Naruto's hand.

"That's a relief," said Naruto. Naruto clenched his hand to make sure that all was well.

"Hey bridge builder are you alright?" asked Kakashi.

"Yes I'm fine but the tethers were cut when the kunai was thrown at us … I'm going to need some people to drive the other two carts," said the bridge builder.

Kakashi let out a sigh and looked through the genin. "Naruto and … you Hinata take the middle cart and the other two from Kurenai's team take the third. Sasuke you go between the first and second carts and Sakura you go between the second and third carts."

"Wakarimashita," said the genin. Naruto and Hinata climbed onto the middle cart and Hinata took the reins.

"Do you need any help with that?" whispered Naruto.

"No I've got it," whispered Hinata.

"Man what are those two saying?" growled Kiba.

"Focus on the task at hand Kiba," said Shino as he picked up the reins.

"All right let's move out," said Kakashi as he began to walk forward.

The group got moving again and night began to close in on them. Soon the only source of light came form the stars and the moon.


	10. CH10 The Rain Part I

"It's going to rain tonight we should set up camp," said Naruto.

"What are you talking about you idiot there isn't a cloud in the sky," shouted Kiba.

"Well if you would take the time to smell the air you would know as well dumb ass," said Naruto.

Kiba growled again but took Naruto's advice. Kiba and Akamaru smelled the air for a bit to try and catch the sent of rain.

"We can't smell anything," said Kiba.

"But I know it's coming," said Naruto. "Let's set up camp."

"We should probably do it. I mean he was able to smell those shinobi before you could," said Sakura.

"Tch," grunted Kiba.

The group of shinobi set up their tents to sleep in as did the bridge builder. They also made sure that all the supplies were tied down and the oxen were set for the night.

"Naruto, Hinata why don't you both go get some firewood for a fire," said Kakashi.

"Hai," said Naruto and Hinata.

Naruto and Hinata headed off into the woods to find some dry wood to make a fire with.

"We better find some fast," said Naruto as he turned to the sky, "The rain is almost here."

"There is a batch over there that we can grab," said Hinata as she pointed into a thicket in front of them.

"Let's go," said Naruto as he flashed Hinata a smile and dashed off towards the thicket.

Hinata smiled and ran after Naruto.

"What was that all about?" asked Kakashi.

"I don't know," said Sakura as she shrugged and walked into the tent for team seven. _I get to sleep with Sasuke tonight,_ thought Sakura as a grin spread across her face.

"Nothing cheeky now Sakura," said Kakashi.

"Baka," said Sakura as she stormed into the tent.

"You know that's considered harassment," said Kurenai.

"Hey you know teens just as much as I do," said Kakashi as he held up his hands.

"They just turned into teenagers don't treat them like they're eighteen," said Kurenai

"Alright, alright," said Kakashi as he headed into his own tent.

Hinata was walking through the thicket when she lost sight of Naruto.

"Naruto where did you go?" yelled Hinata, "Naruto!"

"Yes," said Naruto.

Hinata jumped and spun around to meet Naruto's face. "Naruto don't scare me like that."

"I'm just messing with you Hinata," said Naruto as he scratched the back of his head. Naruto then looked up towards the sky. Hinata did the same and noticed that the storm clouds where right over them now.

"I smell it now Naruto," said Hinata.

"We ran too far away from camp we won't make it back in time," said Naruto. As soon as he said this a heavy downpour flooded over them.

"We need to find our way back to camp," yelled Hinata over the rain.

"I can't remember which way it is," yelled Naruto.

"We won't be able to find our way back through all this rain," yelled Hinata.

"Hey Hinata I smell a cave a bit over there," yelled Naruto as he pointed to his left.

"Let's go there so we can get out of the rain," yelled Hinata.

Hinata and Naruto dashed in the direction that Naruto indicated the cave was in. A few minutes later they had found the cave and were finally out of the rain.

"How are we going to let everyone know that we're here?" asked Hinata.

"I've got that covered," said Naruto as he placed his hands together for a Jutsu. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" yelled Naruto as ten clones of Naruto appeared through plumes of smoke. "Alright guys I need you to go out and search for the campsite," said the original Naruto.

"Hai," said the clones of Naruto.

"Tell them that we're in a cave that is hopefully nearby and that we will wait out the storm here and meet up with them when it's over," said Naruto. "Oh and one more thing, don't get lost."

"We know that," said one of the clones.

"Good, now get going," said Naruto.

The clones of Naruto disappeared into the dense rain and were out of sight almost as soon as they entered it. Naruto finally noticed how cold he was and saw that Hinata was shivering as well.

"I've got some stuff with me that will warm us up," said Naruto as he dumped out the contents of his bag. A few basic essentials spilled out to the ground as well as a few scrolls.

"What's in the scrolls?" asked Hinata as she rubbed her arms to try and warm up.

"Lets see," said Naruto as he opened some of the scrolls to read them. "Nope this one contains a tent … this one has my ramen … ah here we go." Naruto then set the scroll he was currently reading onto the ground and put some chakra into it. The scroll buffeted for a second as smoke issued out of it. A second later a big blanket was lying over the scroll.

"First I'm going to get out of these soaked cloths," said Naruto as he removed his shoes. He then took of his jacket and his pants and set them aside. Hinata turned away in embarrassment.

"What's wrong, what did I do?" asked Naruto.

"Y-you're not supposed … to do that in front of girls Naruto," said Hinata.

"Why?" asked Naruto.

"Because it's indecent," said Hinata.

"Fine I'll put them back on," said Naruto as he pulled on his pants. He then put his jacket back on and his shoes.

"Can't you light a fire instead?" asked Hinata as she turned to see if Naruto was dressed.

"I think I have some emergency wood stored in a scroll somewhere," said Naruto as he searched through his wide array of scrolls, "Got it."

Naruto put some chakra into the scroll and a pile of wood appeared over the scroll. Naruto removed the scroll from the bottom of the pile and dug out two pieces of flint. He struck the pieces together a few times over the wood. The wood then caught on fire and Naruto bent down to blow air onto the fire to make it stronger. Soon the two of them were bathed in the warm glow of a fire. The cave began to warm up and their cloths began to dry. Naruto wrapped the blanket around the two of them and they waited for the storm to end.

"Not exactly what I had planned but it got us together for awhile," said Naruto.

A few seconds later Naruto felt a pressure on his shoulder. He looked over and saw that Hinata had fallen asleep and was resting her head on his shoulder.

"Soft," mumbled Hinata in her sleep.

Naruto gently kissed Hinata on her head and whispered, "Hehe good night Hinata."

The Naruto clones were having a real hard time finding the camp. A few hours had gone by with no luck. Just then one of the clones had found the camp a few miles south of the cave.

"Dang they went that far?" mumbled the clone.

He walked up to the camp site and saw that everyone was outside talking feverishly.

"Where do you think they could have gone?" asked Kurenai.

"I don't know, but he had better not have gotten Hinata hurt," growled Kiba.

"Again with the overzealous brother act?" asked the clone as he walked up to the group.

Kiba saw the clone and mistook it as the real Naruto. "Where is Hinata you bastard," said Kiba as he pinned the clone against a tree.

"Hey now be careful, if you hit me I disappear," said the clone.

"What the hell are you talking about?" asked Kiba.

"That must be one of Naruto's clones from his Kage Bunshin no Jutsu," said Sakura.

"Kage what?" asked Kiba.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu is the art of creating images of yourself that are more than just illusions … they are solid and can fight along side a shinobi … it is a jounin rank Jutsu," said Kurenai. "How does … never mind," said Kurenai as she remembered Naruto had taken the forbidden scroll from the Hokage building.

"He must have sent it out to look for camp once it started raining," said Sakura.

"But why?" asked Shino.

"Hinata and he might have gotten lost," said Kakashi.

"We should wait for the rain to let up before we start looking for them," said Sasuke.

"But what if they were caught in the rain?" asked Sakura.

"Last time I saw them they were in a cave a few miles north of here," said the clone.

"Well at least we know that they are safe for the night," said Kakashi.

"Well I have to disappear … literally because if I don't do it soon Naruto might not wake up tomorrow," said the Clone.

"You mean he's asleep?" asked Kakashi.

"Yeah about an hour ago he fell asleep but he kept up the Jutsu," said the clone as he started to fade. "Well I guess my time is up then. Make sure you find them because I doubt Naruto will be able to move in the morning." The clone then waved goodbye and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Naruto must have a lot of chakra to be able to do that Jutsu and make it come all the way over here and have him be asleep at the time," said Sakura.

"You don't know the half of it," mumbled Kakashi.

"Alright we camp here for the night and we look for Naruto and Hinata in the morning," said Kurenai sensei as she stepped into her tent. Everyone went into their tents and went to sleep for the night.


	11. CH11 The Rain Part II

When they woke up they noticed that the rain had not let up from the night before.

"Kakashi-sensei will we be able to look for Naruto in this weather," said Sakura.

"We might have to whether or not we will be able to," said Kakashi. A grim look flashed across his face.

"Why so grim Kakashi-sensei?" asked Sakura.

"This rain seems unnatural to me," said Kakashi-sensei.

"What do you mean?" asked Kiba, "it smells like regular rain to me."

"It is real rain but the way it came onto to us was strange," said Kakashi.

"How so?" asked Sasuke.

"If you look closely at the water you can see that it's infused with chakra," said Kakashi.

"There must be a lot of chakra in the water if you can see it with the naked eye," said Sakura.

"It sort of reminds me of someone from the bingo book," said Kakashi.

"What's the bingo book?" asked Sasuke.

"It's a special book that holds information on the most notable shinobi around," said Kakashi. "I am even in it."

"As am I," said Kurenai.

"Regardless of the chakra in the rain we still have to find Naruto and Hinata," said Shino.

"Right let's move north from here in a grid search pattern," said Kakashi.

The genin nodded and disappeared into the forest to look for the cave.

Morning came a little bit differently for the two in the cave. Hinata had roused from her sleep to find Naruto was resting his head on hers. She wanted to stay like this for awhile so she closed her eyes to try and fall back asleep. She then noticed that Naruto's breathing was rapid as was his heartbeat. Hinata was wide awake now. She thought something was very wrong. She gently laid Naruto down to see what was wrong with him. The fire had not gone out for some reason that she would ask later, but was thankful for because the rain had not stopped and without it she would not be able to see Naruto.

"Naruto wake up," said Hinata as she shook his shoulders.

Naruto looked pale, and had sweat running down his face. He had a pained look on his face. Hinata grabbed her canteen and took off the cap. She lifted Naruto up and tipped the canteen up to his lips. The water filled inside his mouth then started to pour down his face. Naruto coughed and the water that was in his mouth sputtered out and rolled down his face.

"Naruto you have to drink the water," pleaded Hinata as she pressed the canteen to his lips again.

This time when the water entered Naruto's mouth he swallowed it. Hinata smiled when Naruto drank the water but knew she had more she needed to do. She quickly grabbed the blanket that had been around the two of them and wrapped Naruto in it. Naruto pushed the blanket aside but Hinata just placed it back over him. She then grabbed the scroll that Naruto said was supplies and put some chakra into it. When she did a mountain of ramen cups appeared out of the ball of smoke. Hinata searched through the pile and found a pot that Naruto would have used to boil the water in. She set the pot outside of the cave to collect the water from the downpour. When she came back in she saw that Naruto had once again pushed aside the blanket. Hinata walked over to Naruto and pulled the blanket over him once more.

Soon the pot was full of water and Hinata dipped her handkerchief into it. She was thankful that the water was cool. She placed the dampened handkerchief on top of Naruto's forehead. Naruto's breathing rate slowed a bit but it was still quite rapid. Hinata began to search the cave for anything that could help her help Naruto. She ran out of the cave to see if the others had found Naruto's clones. Soon she saw some shadows coming towards her. She focused her eyes to see if they were the shadows she was hoping for. She saw that they were the shadows of team 7.

"Kakashi-sensei something is wrong with Naruto-kun!" yelled Hinata as she waved to Kakashi. Kakashi and the others hastened in their pace and they were all soon in the cave and around Naruto.

"Is he okay Kakashi-sensei?" asked Sakura.

"He's fine he's just sick," said Kakashi, "probably from the rain."

"How long has that fire been burning?" asked Sasuke.

"Ano … all night … I think," said Hinata.

"How has it been burning that long?" asked Sasuke.

"I don't know we were asleep," said Hinata.

"I couldn't have been burning that long … there are no ashes," said Sasuke.

"Well it was," said Hinata as her eyes began to water.

"Sasuke don't badger Hinata with questions like that … you could really upset her," said Kakashi.

"Was the fire burning all night?" asked Sakura in a gentle tone.

"Well Naruto lit the fire and then we both went to sleep so I guess so," said Hinata. She began to calm down. She wiped the tears from her eyes and kneeled next to Naruto.

"Wood can't burn that long without it turning into ash," said Kakashi as he looked at the fire. He then lifted up his shinobi forehead protector and stared at it more closely. He let his forehead protector slide back over his eyes before returning next to Naruto.

"Naruto listen closely," said Kakashi as he grabbed Naruto's shoulders. "Hinata and you are safe now … we're here so you can let the fire die now."

The fire began to flicker as if a breeze had entered the cave though none had.

"Naruto let go … if you don't do this you can't complete the mission," said Kakashi. As soon as he mentioned the mission the fire immediately died out. Everything went black.

"Kakashi-sensei … what just happened?" asked Sakura.

Kakashi let out a sigh, "Naruto was using his chakra to keep that fire going without burning through the fuel of the logs."

"H-how long did you say the fire was going?" asked Sakura in surprise.

"Just about all night," said Hinata as she wiped the sweat from Naruto's brow.

"Naruto must have an enormous supply of chakra," said Sakura.

Naruto's breathing rate slowed to shallow breaths. The sweat stopped flowing but he still looked weak.

"That's better," said Kakashi as he walked to the edge of the cave. "How did you find this place in the rain?"

"Naruto found it," said Hinata as she got up. She glanced at Naruto to make sure he would be okay and then she stood next to Kakashi.

"This isn't ordinary rain," said Kakashi.

"I noticed the chakra in it as well," said Hinata.

"Somewhere nearby is a shinobi that is causing all this," said Kakashi.

"Where though?" said Sasuke.

"I don't know but we need to find him and stop him soon or the path to the wave country will be too muddy for the carts to go through," said Kakashi.

"I … can find … him," said Naruto as he tried to get up.

"No Naruto you mustn't move," said Sakura as she pushed him back down.

"Naruto your chakra supply is really low so we can't have you using anymore until you get a full days rest at least," said Kakashi.

"That's just perfect … we go on a mission and Naruto gets to slack off," said Sasuke. He then folded his arms across his chest and walked to the exit of the cave. "I'm going to go back and tell them that we found Naruto."

"If you find the person that is doing this, don't engage just report to either me or Kurenai," said Kakashi.

"Hai," said Sasuke as he dashed off into the rain.

"Kakashi-sensei … ano … gomen," said Naruto.

"Don't worry Naruto you did what you had to in order to tell us where you were and make sure at least one of you was well enough for the mission," said Kakashi. "I'm just surprised at the amount of chakra you have."

There was a deep silence in the cave now that everyone was done with what they were doing. They all waited in the silence of the cave fore Sasuke to return with news from Kurenai. All was quite, save for the steady fall of the rain outside the cave. The wind outside shifted restlessly as if it itself knew that this rain was unnatural.

"Hey kid listen to the wind … it can tell you something," said a mysterious voice.

"What?" asked Naruto.

"Huh … Naruto did you say something?" asked Kakashi.

"I thought you said something," said Naruto.

"No one said anything," said Sakura, "except you."

"But I just heard someone tell me to listen to the wind … what ever that means," said Naruto.

"Listen to the wind?" asked Hinata.

"Yeah," said Naruto.

"Are you sure you're feeling alright?" asked Sakura.

"Aside from the exhaustion, I'm fine," said Naruto. "Do you think I'm going crazy Kakashi-sensei?"

"No … you're probably just tired," said Kakashi. _The seal must be getting old, _Thought Kakashi. _But I don't have the supplies with me to strengthen it … hopefully it will hold out till we get done with this mission_.

Just then Sasuke ran into the cave soaked to the bone.

"Kurenai said to bring Naruto back to the caravan," said Sasuke. "He can rest in one of the carts."

"Okay then," said Kakashi as he walked over to Naruto. "Off we go."

Kakashi bent down and picked up Naruto and walked to the edge of the cave. Hinata gathered up all of Naruto's scrolls and things and followed suit. Soon they all dashed off towards the caravan with Naruto clinging onto Kakashi's back. While en route to the caravan Naruto kept thinking about what that voice had said. _"Listen to the wind,"_ thought Naruto, _I guess I can give it a go._ Naruto focused some of the chakra that he had regained from his rest into his ears and muttered, "Fuuton."

"Did you say something Naruto?" asked Kakashi.

"No," said Naruto.

"Hm … must've been the rain," said Kakashi.

Naruto used the Jutsu to listen to the wind. He heard the wind but every other sound began to fade away. The sound of the rain lessened, the patter of their footsteps faded, the swirling of trees died away. All he could hear was the wind. The sound was so peaceful that Naruto almost slacked his grip on Kakashi. Then he heard it, the steady flow of chakra into the wind and into the clouds. The source of the rain was a single man sitting atop a tree focusing all of his chakra into the clouds around him. Naruto heard the steadiness of his breath and the swirl of the tree under him.

"Kakashi-sensei," muttered Naruto half asleep.

"Yes Naruto," said Kakashi.

"I found it … the source of the rain," said Naruto.

"I told you not to try it … you don't have enough chakra," said Kakashi.

"I didn't use a lot of chakra," said Naruto.

"Ugh … where is he then," said Kakashi through a sigh.

"Somewhere north of here," said Naruto. The wind suddenly changed direction causing a couple of them to lose their footing. "Make that north east."

"C'mon we should get off the trees and stick to the ground," said Kakashi.

They all jumped down to the ground and were soon at the caravan. Kakashi put Naruto in the middle cart with Hinata and tied the reins to the first cart so that the oxen would follow them.

"Just get some rest so you can help out with the mission soon," said Kakashi.

"Alright," said Naruto.

"I'll stay back here and make sure he gets some sleep," said Hinata.

"You do that … otherwise he won't sleep," said Kakashi as he walked up to the front of the caravan.

"Hey I resent that remark," said Naruto as he tried to get up.

"I'm surprised that you were smart enough to use that word correctly Naruto," shouted Kakashi as he waved back to Naruto.

"Dumb ass," mumbled Naruto.

"Don't worry about him Naruto, just relax and try and get some rest," said Hinata.

"I guess I could do that," said Naruto as he closed his eyes.

"Good work kid with the wind," said the mysterious voice.

"There it is again," said Naruto as he shot up.

"There what is?" asked Hinata.

"The voice that told me to listen to the wind in the cave … I just heard it now," said Naruto.

"Do you want me to get Kakashi-sensei or Kurenai-sensei?" asked Hinata.

"Kakashi didn't believe me. Would Kurenai believe me?" asked Naruto.

"I don't know," said Hinata.

"Maybe we should just keep this time between ourselves ok," said Naruto.

"Alright," said Hinata as she sat down next to Naruto.

Naruto then lay back down and closed his eyes to sleep. Exhaustion took over and he fell into a deep sleep.


	12. CH12 The Dream

Naruto's dreams were usually filled with memories from the past but this time his dream was different. In his dream Naruto was standing in the middle of an enormous labyrinth. The floor was flooded up to his ankles in water. There was very little lighting and a strange moldy smell was pungent in the air. Naruto looked around but just saw identical passageways. He began to walk down one of them when he heard something in the distance. It sounded as if someone … or something else was in the labyrinth with him. It sounded as if the other thing in the labyrinth was stuck somewhere because even though the sounds persisted they neither got louder nor quieter. Naruto decided that he would try his best not to go to those sounds. He began to walk along the identical corridors for what seemed like hours. He turned a corner and suddenly the sounds stopped. Naruto looked back to see if anything was behind him but he found nothing there.

"This place is kind of creepy," said Naruto. His words echoed through the corridors until it sounded as if a thousand Narutos were exploring this unknown dream.

"Try being locked up in here four thirteen years," said a voice behind Naruto. This voice did not echo but it caused the hairs on Naruto's neck to stand up.

Naruto slowly turned around and saw an enormous cage. On the cage was the symbol of the fire country and on the symbol was a seal. Naruto reached slowly for the seal.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you kid," said the voice.

Naruto immediately stopped what he was doing. "Who's there? And why shouldn't I do that?"

"Unless you want to unleash me I suggest you keep that seal exactly where it is," said the voice.

"Who are you?" asked Naruto.

"That's not important right now," said the voice. "What is important is that I've finished restoring your chakra and you are almost to the wave country."

"How do you know that I'm going to the wave country?" asked Naruto.

"Because, idiot, I see what you see … I know what you know," said the voice.

"Isn't this just some stupid dream I'm having?" asked Naruto.

"Geeze for an idiot you sure do ask a lot of questions," said the voice.

"I'm not an idiot," said Naruto.

"Of course not," said the voice in a gentler tone. "I was being rash."

"Why is something in my dream apologizing to me?" asked Naruto.

"I told you this isn't a dream you moron," said the voice in a more angry tone. As he said this a red mist began to emanate from the cage.

"Ok, ok this isn't a dream," said Naruto hastily.

"Good … now that we've got that covered you can wake up," said the voice.

"But you just told me that this wasn't a dream," said Naruto.

"I know I said that, but if you don't wake up now you will miss your chance at participating in the mission," said the voice.

"Oh yeah that's right I'm on a mission," said Naruto.

No words came from the cage other than a sigh as the labyrinth began to fade away.

"Now remember boy if you ever need a little boost of chakra just call on your insides and I'll give you some," said the voice.

"How the hell do I do that?" asked Naruto.

"Just concentrate on that seal on your belly," said the voice as the dream finally disappeared.

Naruto sat up and looked outside of the covered wagon that he was in. The sky was dark save for a few stars in the sky. Most of the sky was blocked out by the clouds. Then Naruto noticed it … it had stopped raining. Naruto quickly got up and exited the wagon. He looked around and saw that everyone else was sleeping in his or her tents except for Kakashi who was keeping watch.

"Ooi Kakashi-sensei what happened to the rain?" whispered Naruto.

"Oh you're up Naruto," said Kakashi. "Good timing … I want you to keep watch for the rest of the night."

"Alright Kakashi-sensei," said Naruto, "But what happened to the rain."

"Oh right … that guy that you mentioned that was causing it," said Kakashi.

"Yeah, the one I told you about," said Naruto.

"Well, Kurenai and I found him and took care of him," said Kakashi.

"Aw man … I missed it," said Naruto as he sat down near Kakashi.

"Don't worry Naruto … you'll have plenty of chances to bash some heads," said Kakashi as he walked over to his tent, "Oh, one more thing Naruto."

"Yeah Kakashi-sensei?" asked Naruto.

"This watch cycle is actually Hinata's but when she comes out just tell her she can sleep for the rest of the night," said Kakashi.

"Alright I'll tell her," said Naruto.

Kakashi went inside his tent and went to sleep for the night. Naruto sat there on the log watching the fire curl around in the air. He looked up and noticed that the clouds were parting and more stars were shining through. Naruto didn't let this peaceful night distract him from what he was doing though. He pushed some chakra into his senses to make sure he could keep watch all around with very little movement. A few minutes later Naruto heard some movement inside one of the tents. He looked over to the tent and saw Hinata backing out of it.

"Moshi-moshi Hinata-chan," said Naruto.

"N-Naruto what are you doing up?" asked Hinata as she walked up to Naruto.

"I woke up a few minutes ago and felt great so I came out here," said Naruto. "Kakashi-sensei told me to keep watch for the rest of the night and you can get some rest."

Hinata looked back at her tent and then turned back to Naruto, "But…"

"I figured you would want to stay," said Naruto.

Hinata smiled and sat down next to Naruto.

"Now we can have some time to ourselves," said Hinata.

"That we can," said Naruto.

Hinata rested her head on Naruto's shoulder and Naruto rested his head on Hinata's.

"Let's stay like this till morning," said Hinata.

"Sure Hinata," said Naruto.

Naruto and Hinata sat there staring into the fire holding each other for an hour or so before Naruto heard Hinata's breathing turn deep and rhythmic. He looked down at Hinata and found that she had fallen asleep while resting on his shoulder. Naruto smiled and picked her up. He walked over to her tent and noiselessly placed her in her sleeping bag. He exited the tent and saw Kurenai standing in front of him with a kunai in her hand.

"Oh Naruto it's only you," whispered Kurenai.

"Sorry Kurenai-sensei … Hinata fell asleep so I thought I should bring her back to her tent," said Naruto as he scratched the back of his head.

"As long as you didn't try anything cheeky with her while she was asleep," said Kurenai. She went back into her tent and winked at Naruto then shut the flaps.

_What was that about,_ thought Naruto. Naruto shrugged and went back to the log to keep watch for the rest of the night.


	13. CH13 Momochi Zabuza

Soon the night sky began to brighten up as daylight approached. A soft morning mist penetrated the campsite and soon people began to stir in their tents. Naruto waited for the group to get out of their tents. Soon the campsite was busy with people getting supplies for a quick breakfast.

"Just because we took out that guy who caused the rain doesn't mean that there aren't any other shinobi around so stay alert," shouted Kakashi over the hustle and bustle. As soon as people were done eating and packed up to go Naruto put out the fire and buried the embers under some dirt. The caravan and group were back on the road to the wave country within minutes. There wasn't much to talk about so everyone stayed busy by keeping alert. The morning mist soon became a dense fog as the minutes rolled by. Soon the sun became blocked from view.

"I don't like this Kakashi," said Kurenai.

"Neither do I," said Kakashi.

A few seconds later a kunai was thrown into the dirt in front of the oxen pulling the first cart. The bridge builder had to pull back on the reins to steady the oxen.

"Where did that come from!" shouted Sasuke.

"Up in that tree over there," said Naruto as he pointed to a tree a few feet in front of them. When he did this a shinobi jumped out of the tree and landed a few yards in front of Kakashi. This shinobi whore a mask over his face similar to that of Kakashi's except his was made out of bandages. He had on a shinobi headband with four wave symbols on it symbolizing Kirigakure. He had on a purple sleeveless shirt and purple pants. He had white pieces of cloth on his arms and legs that had black spots on it. He also wore on his back a huge sword.

"Hatake Kakashi," said the man with the giant sword.

"Momochi … Zabuza," said Kakashi.

"Do you know this man Kakashi-sensei?" asked Naruto.

"Not in so many words," said Kakashi.

"What does that mean?" asked Sakura.

"I know him from my bingo book," said Kakashi.

"So this guy must be really strong to be in the bingo book then, eh Kakashi-sensei?" asked Naruto.

"Yes he is," said Kakashi. "He is one of the mist's elite seven swordsmen … he carries on his back the head cleaver sword."

"I see you know a lot about me … copy ninja Kakashi," said Zabuza.

"Copy ninja?" muttered Naruto.

"You won't get any farther than this bridge builder," said Zabuza as he drew out his sword and pointed it straight at the bridge builder.

"Guard the bridge builder while Kurenai and I take out this guy," said Kakashi.

"Bold words from someone who only copies moves," said Zabuza, "Mizu Bunshin No Jutsu!" In the lake a few yards behind Zabuza five clones of Zabuza appeared. They walked up and took their positions next to Zabuza. The genin jumped around the bridge builder and his carts to guard them. The clones jumped for the bridge builder and surrounded the genin. Kurenai jumped back to help the genin out when one of the clones turned around and placed his palm right in front of Kurenai.

"Suirou No Jutsu!" yelled the clone as a pool of water enveloped Kurenai and closed around behind her trapping her inside of a bubble of water.

"Kurenai!" yelled Kakashi as he looked back towards Kurenai.

"You don't have time to be worrying about anyone else but yourself," said Zabuza as he rushed for Kakashi with his sword ready to swing down on him. Kakashi quickly took out a kunai and held it up to defend himself from the attack. A clang of metal on metal reverberated through the forest as the sword hit the kunai.

"That little thing won't save you forever copy ninja," said Zabuza as he put more force into his attack causing Kakashi to stagger back a bit. While Zabuza held Kakashi there with his attack one of the clones ran for Kakashi.

"Kakashi-sensei, look out!" yelled Sakura.

"Suirou No Jutsu!" yelled the clone as the same fate that befell Kurenai happened to Kakashi.

"Well that does it for the jounin … now to kill what's left over," said Zabuza.

"No way that I'm letting an asshole like you take me down!" yelled Naruto as he placed his fingers into a cross, "Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!" Suddenly ten clones appeared out of puffs of smoke. They all rushed for Zabuza. Zabuza and some of his clones let their guard down for a few seconds.

_Now is my chance_, thought Sasuke as he grabbed some kunai out of his satchel. He threw the kunai towards the clones. The clones that held Kakashi and Kurenai prisoner caught the kunai thrown at them but the ones that were still looking at Naruto were hit and fell into puddles of water.

"A weak attack like that won't get me," yelled one of Zabuza's clones.

"At least I got some of them," said Sasuke.

"And now it's my turn to beat the shit out of you!" yelled Naruto as all of his clones and him drew back their fists and prepared to attack Zabuza head on. Zabuza swung his sword in a full circle and destroyed all of Naruto's clones. This didn't stop Naruto's advancement though. The swing that Zabuza did caused him to be left wide open for an attack. _He won't be able to swing that heavy sword around in time to hit me_, thought Naruto as he increased his speed.

"You little brat!" yelled Zabuza as he pulled hard on his sword causing the hilt to hit Naruto square in the chest. This sent Naruto flying backward.

"That won't take me down so easily," said Naruto as he formed five more clones. They all rushed for Zabuza but met the same fate as before this time with Naruto getting cut as well. While Naruto was flying back again he sifted through his backpack for something. "Got it!" yelled Naruto as he drew out a long piece of metal, "Sasuke!" Sasuke looked at Naruto and saw the piece of metal flying straight towards him. He instantly knew what Naruto was planing. He grabbed the piece of metal and jumped into the air. He gripped the piece of metal by a small circular handle and four blades swung out from the long piece of metal.

"Kage Fuusha Shuriken No Jutsu!" yelled Sasuke as he threw the windmill shuriken as hard as he could towards Zabuza. The windmill shuriken missed Zabuza.

"Ha, you missed," said Zabuza.

"I wasn't aiming for you," said Sasuke as the windmill shuriken flew for the Zabuza clone holding Kakashi prisoner.

"That won't stop me," said the clone as he hopped into the air causing the windmill shuriken to miss and fly away towards the lake.

"I thought that would hit him for sure," said Sakura.

"Man why did he have to jump," said Kiba.

Sasuke didn't share their resentment. Instead he just smirked.

"What's that smirk for boy?" asked Zabuza as Sasuke landed.

"For this!" yelled Naruto from behind the Zabuza clone. Naruto threw a kunai straight at the Zabuza. Zabuza was still in mid air after the hop and could not dodge the attack. The kunai went straight towards Zabuza forcing him to catch it with the hand that held Kakashi in the water prison. The prison of water around Kakashi was now broken. In the moment of confusion the rest of the genin teamed up on the last clone and freed Kurenai.

"Now the fight gets interesting," said Kakashi as he took out a kunai and destroyed the clone.


	14. Ch14 The Mysterious Hunter Nin

Zabuza looked towards Kakashi and cursed at Naruto.

"Now you will see why they call me the copy ninja," said Kakashi as he lifted up his headband which revealed a cut across his hidden eye. Kakashi opened his left eye and which turned out to be a red eye with three black spirals around the pupil.

"What's that?" asked Naruto as he got out of the water.

"It can't be…" said Sasuke.

"What's wrong Sasuke?" asked Sakura.

"That's the Sharingan," said Sasuke.

"What's a … Sharingan?" asked Naruto as he joined the rest of the group.

"It allows the user to copy any and all Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, and Genjutsu," said Kurenai.

"Amazing!" exclaimed Naruto.

"He shouldn't be able to use the Sharingan," said Sasuke quietly.

"Why not?" asked Naruto.

"Because he's not a member of the Uchiha clan," said Sasuke.

"Hatake Kakashi … copy ninja … time for you to die," said Zabuza as he formed some hand seals. "Suiton: Hahonryuu No Jutsu!"

Suddenly an enormous wave appeared out in the lake and headed towards the group of Nin.

"You'll have to do better than that," said Kakashi as he performed the same hand seals and created an equal wave and launched it towards the first wave. They both canceled each other out in the center of the lake. Only a small ripple made it to shore.

"I guess I'll try something stronger than a mere wave," said Zabuza as he formed some hand seals. Kakashi followed suit making the same hand seals right when Zabuza made them. _How can he create the hand seals along with me? … He can't be predicting my movements,_ thought Zabuza.

"Suiton: Suiryuudan No Jutsu," Yelled both Kakashi and Zabuza. Suddenly two large dragons made of water erupted from the lake. They curled around each other and then attacked each other. The both bit the other in the neck causing them to fall out into the lake.

"How are you predicting my exact movements?" asked Zabuza.

"This Sharingan can read all the movements you make so well it allows me to predict your next move," stated Kakashi. Kakashi then made some hand seals causing another huge wave to come to shore. The wave was barreling towards the group and the carts.

"If that wave hits the carts we'll lose all the supplies," said the bridge builder.

"I've got an idea," said Naruto. Naruto walked forward a bit and began to gather chakra in his hands.

"Naruto don't try to be a hero," said Sakura.

"I don't try … I do," said Naruto as the chakra in his hands turned blue.

"Visible chakra," whispered Kurenai.

Suddenly the chakra turned red and Naruto thrust his hands forward. "SUITON!" yelled Naruto as the water rushed up to them. The water then parted in front of Naruto missing him, the carts, and the group completely. Kakashi looked back in surprise to see Naruto diverting all that water. The water subsided and Zabuza was pinned against a tree. Zabuza walked away from the tree and started to head for Kakashi when a needle flew out of a nearby tree and hit Zabuza in the neck. Zabuza fell to the ground and everyone looked towards the source of the needle. A Nin wearing a mask was crouching in the tree.

The Nin had long black hair and fair skin. He was wearing a green kimono type garb with a yellow border. His fingernails were painted purple and he wore blue sandal-shoes. The mask he had on was white with red stripes going across one of the eye sockets.

"Thank you for distracting him," said the Nin.

"Um … you're welcome," said Kakashi. "Who are you?"

"I am a hunter Nin from Kirigakure … I was sent here to track this man and kill him for harboring the secrets of our village," said the Nin.

"Then we won't interfere with your work," said Kakashi.

"I thank you again for helping me in the way you did," said the Nin as he picked up Zabuza and jumped away.

"What was that all about?" asked Naruto.

"That was a hunter Nin," said Kakashi, "they hunt down missing Nin and kill them so they don't reveal the village's secrets to outside nations."

"That about sums it up," said Kurenai.

"Now more importantly how did you deflect all that water Naruto?" asked Kakashi.

"I don't really know," said Naruto. "All I know is that I wanted to make sure no one got hurt and I felt a huge rush of chakra go to my hands and it parted all of the water."

"Yeah right idiot, it had to have been that hunter Nin," said Sakura as she punched Naruto in the back of the head.

"Why did you hit me?" yelled Naruto as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Because you were making stuff up," yelled Sakura.

"I shouldn't use that much chakra in one bout again," said Naruto.

"What are you talking about?" asked Sakura in annoyance.

"I used a lot of chakra to divert the water," said Naruto.

"Why shouldn't you use all that chakra?" asked Hinata.

"Because I'm going to pass out now," said Naruto. A few seconds later he dropped to the ground and passed out.

"Idiot," muttered Sakura as she hefted Naruto into the second cart.

"He just saved us and you call him an idiot … why is that?" asked Hinata.

"Because he does too much for us … one day that is going to get him into a lot of trouble, and even though I don't like him all that much I wouldn't want that to happen to him," said Sakura.

"Well let's continue on then while Naruto sleeps," said Kakashi.

"Pff that dumbass will probably sleep through the entire mission," said Kiba.

"Don't call him that!" yelled Sakura and Hinata.

"Okay, okay jeez I'm sorry," said Kiba quickly.

Sakura and Hinata exchanged quick glances before they got onto the second cart.

"Keep doing stuff like that and people might start suspecting something," whispered Sakura.

"What do you mean?" asked Hinata.

"Naruto wants to protect you from the stuff that he gets on a daily basis," said Sakura. "That's why he hasn't told anyone that you two are dating."

Hinata looked back at Naruto and smiled. "Thanks Sakura."

"Don't mention it," said Sakura with a smile.

"What do you think they're talking about?" Kiba asked Shino.

"Don't know, don't care," said Shino.

"You know you're a real buzz kill," said Kiba.

"At least I'm focused on the mission at hand," said Shino.

"As should you Kiba," said Kurenai.

"Wah! Kurenai-sensei," yelled Kiba.

"Shh, not so loud," said Kurenai, "Unless you want the enemy to hear us."

"N-no I don't, it's just I don't trust those of team seven," said Kiba.

"If you can't trust the people from your own village who can you trust?" asked Shino.

"A wise question," said Kurenai.

"G-gomen," muttered Kiba.

The rest of the trip to the wave country's border was pretty uneventful save for the oxen needing a break part way through. They rested there for awhile while the oxen ate. Soon they would be in the wave country and would be assisting in the final stages of the bridge.


	15. CH15 Tree Climbin 101

A/N: How is the story going so far for you guys/gals. I hope you like it but if you don't oh well. The end of this little wave country spurt will bring about another large change in the series to story comparison. If you hate me for good for you go flame, if you love me for good for you go praise. Any who onwards with the story

At that very same time in the wave country Zabuza was in a bed in a small house in the middle of nowhere. He stirred and finally awoke. The hunter Nin that had brought him in appeared by his side a moment later through a puff of smoke.

"I'm here Zabuza," said the Nin.

"Good work Haku but next time don't be late, they almost got me," said Zabuza as he sat up.

"Gomen Zabuza-san I wanted to be there sooner but it wouldn't have looked good for me to have shown up in the middle of their downfall just to get you and save them," said Haku as he removed the mask. Under the mask was a pretty face, very fair and smooth. Very much unlike the gender he was. He had brown sparkling eyes. "Next time I won't make that mistake."

"Of course you won't," said Zabuza.

Just then there was a knock at the door. Haku immediately got up and answered the door. A small fat man wearing a black suit walked in. He had dirty blond hair that flashed back.

"I see you're back Zabuza, did you scope out the enemy?" asked the man.

"Gatô, by now you should know that when I come back I have the information I need," said Zabuza.

"I don't like you taking that tone with me," said Gatô as he walked over to Zabuza and got ready to slap him. Just then in one deft movement Haku had grabbed Gatô's wrist and broke it.

"Now, now Gatô by now you should also know not to threaten me," said Zabuza.

"Just get the job done!" yelled Gatô as he clenched his broken wrist.

"You know I will," muttered Zabuza.

Gatô then turned and left Haku and Zabuza.

"We'll kill them now then?" asked Haku.

"Of course we will Haku," said Zabuza.

By then the team had made it into the wave country. Naruto ended up sleeping through the boat ride in. He awoke just as they docked at shore.

"Did we make it in?" asked Naruto.

"Yup," said Kakashi.

"We should probably lay low for a day and then start construction on the bridge," said Shino.

"We'll have to find a place to stay," said Sakura.

"We'll train a bit while Kurenai's team goes to find a place to stay," said Kakashi.

"Hai," said the Genin.

Kurenai's team went into the nearby village while Kakashi's team went into the nearby forest.

"Ooi Kakashi, what happened to your leg?" asked Naruto.

"I slipped while loading the cargo and the log I was helping move fell on it and it broke," said Kakashi.

"So that's why you were using crutches," said Naruto.

"Actually I'm using these because they're so fun to use," said Kakashi with a smirk.

"Idiot," muttered Naruto.

"What was that?" asked Kakashi.

"I said you were an idiot," yelled Naruto.

Kakashi then hit Naruto in the stomach with one of his crutches.

"Now what was that?" asked Kakashi.

"Ow-ow-ow-ow," muttered Naruto as he clutched his stomach.

"That's what I thought you said," said Kakashi.

When the four of them stopped they were in the middle of a small clearing in the forest.

"Kakashi-sensei what are we going to be doing here?" asked Sakura.

"I'm going to teach you how to walk up trees," said Kakashi as he walked over to a tree.

"How's that possible?" asked Naruto.

"I'll show you," said Kakashi as he focused some chakra into his feet. "All you have to do is focus enough chakra into your feet in order to cling to the tree. Too much and you break your footing, too little and you slip off." Kakashi then walked up the tree even with the crutches and then hung himself upside down on a branch. "It's not as simple as it looks, now I'm going to want you to mark the highest you can go up with a kunai and then try to beat that mark until you reach the top of the tree."

"That'll be easy," said Naruto.

"If it'll be easy for Naruto it should be nothing for me," said Sasuke.

"Wanna make a wager on that?" asked Naruto.

"Fine … first to the top of their tree wins," said Sasuke.

"Don't fight guys," said Sakura.

Naruto and Sasuke looked over and saw that Sakura had already gotten to the top of her tree and was yelling down at them from the top.

"How did she do that?" asked Naruto.

"Because she has excellent control of her chakra," said Kakashi as Sakura jumped down and smiled at the two of them.

"Fine then I'll get to the top no problem," yelled Naruto as he focused some chakra into his feet. He then ran for the tree. He jumped on to the tree and immediately began slipping down it. He ran as fast as he could but he slipped and fell on his back.

"Loser," muttered Sasuke as he ran up five feet before he marked the tree and jumped off. Sakura just sat there watching her teammates trying to get up the tree while Kakashi sat on a branch of a nearby tree reading his book.

A few hours later Sasuke and Naruto had gotten up to about ten feet but neither could get up any farther. The trees were easily around sixty to seventy feet tall so they had a long ways to go. Naruto got fed up and started to walk where Sakura was.

_Giving up already Naruto,_ wondered Kakashi.

_Loser,_ thought Sasuke.

_What does that idiot want with me? It's pretty sad if he's going to quit now_, thought Sakura.

Naruto walked over to where Sakura was and squatted down next to her. "Hey Sakura how did you walk up the tree?" asked Naruto.

_Asking for help? That's a big improvement for you Naruto_, thought Kakashi.

_What is he talking to Sakura about?_ wondered Sasuke.

"You need my help?" asked Sakura.

"Yeah you knew how to do it and I wanted to ask you," said Naruto.

"Oh … you just focus enough chakra into your feet to hold your weight and then just a little more to move up the tree, but you need to remember to keep those chakra amounts constant or you will fall," said Sakura.

"So that's what I did wrong," said Naruto as he slammed his fist into his hand.

Sakura continued to give Naruto pointers on the tree climbing training for a few more minutes before Sasuke got fed up and starting climbing the tree again.

"Thanks Sakura that was a lot of help," said Naruto as he got up and walked to his tree again.


	16. CH16 The Forgotten Hero of the Wave

Kakashi and Sakura went into town to find Kurenai and the others. They found them in front of a house near the dock. A woman named Tsunami owned the house. She had long black hair with brown eyes. She had a son named Inari whom had short black hair and brown eyes. They both wore a garb that was fit for the wave country's fishing populace.

"You must be the rest of the shinobi who are helping Tazuna finish the bridge," said Tsunami.

"Tazuna?" asked Sakura.

"The name of the bridge builder," said Kakashi.

"Oh yeah that's right I never asked his name," said Sakura.

Sakura glanced over at the boy next to Tsunami and smiled. The boy just hid behind his mother and didn't say anything.

"Where are Sasuke and Naruto-kun?" asked Hinata.

"Still training if you'd believe it," said Sakura.

"Those two are good for each other," said Kakashi.

"Oh yeah, How?" asked Sakura.

"They constantly try to beat the other and with that kind of devotion they will become strong really fast," said Kakashi.

"Yeah I guess that is a good combination," said Sakura.

"Come inside dinner should be about ready," said Tsunami.

"We really don't want to intrude," said Kurenai.

"Nonsense … any friend of Tazuna's is a friend of mine and I like to cook so I usually make extra," said Tsunami.

"If you insist," said Kakashi as they all went into the house.

"Now if I could just find some firewood to cook the meals," muttered Tsunami.

"I'll go get some Okaa-san," said Inari.

"Why is he so quiet all the time?" asked Hinata.

"He lost his father to the local Mafia," said Tsunami.

"That's horrible," said Sakura.

"He doesn't like to talk about it," said Tsunami.

"Best we not talk about it to him either," said Kakashi. "Sakura why don't you go tell Sasuke and Naruto where we are."

"Hai," said Sakura. She then left the house.

The others sat around while Inari was gathering wood. Soon Sakura came back but she did not have Sasuke or Naruto with her.

"Where are they?" asked Kakashi.

"Still trying to get that jutsu down," said Sakura.

"Well they'll come in when they're ready," said Kakashi.

In the forest nearby all you could hear were footsteps on trees and a slashing sound every now and then. Sasuke's tree and Naruto's tree were both full of slash marks and they were sitting on the ground exhausted. They looked at each other and glared. Then they both ran as hard as they could up the tree. They ran for a few seconds losing and regaining their footing until finally they reached the top together. They then looked at each other at the top of their trees and smiled.

"C'mon knucklehead let's go back," said Sasuke.

"Sure," said Naruto.

They both jumped to the ground and started to walk back. Along the way Naruto's legs gave way under him but Sasuke caught him.

"Man you're hopeless," said Sasuke as he helped Naruto walk.

Naruto just smiled and walked to Tsunami's house with Sasuke. They both walked through the door when Tsunami had just put the food on the table.

"Well … how'd it go?" asked Kakashi.

Both Sasuke and Naruto gave Kakashi the thumbs up to indicate that they did it.

"Good, now come in before you get our host angry," said Sakura.

"Who?" asked Naruto.

"Her you lummox," said Sasuke.

"Oh sorry," said Naruto as he let go of Sasuke.

They both sat down at the table and helped themselves to the food that Tsunami had cooked for them.

"It smells really good," said Naruto.

"Thank you," said Tsunami.

They all ate the food while talking about random things. Soon the topic of the mission came up.

"We'll make sure that Tazuna finishes the bridge," said Naruto.

"What's the point?" muttered Inari.

"Inari mind your manners," whispered Tsunami.

"Let him speak his mind," said Naruto.

Tsunami looked at Naruto quizzically but nodded her head.

"I said what's the point," repeated Inari.

"What do you mean?" asked Naruto.

"Who cares about being good, or being a hero?" asked Inari. "It just gets you killed." Inari then began to cry. He tried to wipe away the tears but they kept coming.

"Weakling," stated Naruto. Inari gasped and looked up at Naruto. "You shouldn't cry just because you lost something … it makes you weak," said Naruto angrily.

"What do you know?" asked Inari. "I lost my father because he tried to be a hero."

"Who cares?" yelled Naruto. Naruto then got up from the table and walked to the door. "Crying just makes you a big weakling." Naruto then walked out the door.

"Why is he so mean?" asked Inari as he started to stop crying.

"He isn't actually being mean," said Kakashi.

"Then why did he say those hurtful things to me?" asked Inari.

"Because he probably says those things to himself everyday," said Kakashi.

Inari and Tsunami both got shocked looks on their faces. Sakura and Hinata looked sad while Sasuke and Shino looked away, Kiba just grunted.

"What do you mean?" asked Tsunami.

"Back in Konoha not many people like Naruto so they hurt him," said Kakashi, "a lot of times physically. He cried a lot when he was a kid because of it, but he learned to stop crying and put his feelings to better use. He trained hard to become a ninja so that people would start to recognize him as something good. His life dream is to become the Hokage of the village."

Naruto overheard Kakashi's speech. He always hated when he was reminded of his life. He never had a normal day in his life. It was always a bad day with Naruto. Thinking of his past always bummed him out. He decided to walk over to the forest where he trained. As he walked he slid his hands into in pockets and looked up at the night sky. It was actually kind of nice out. There were very few clouds in the sky and because of it being so close to the ocean the wave country's air made the light waver a bit. The stars looked larger than they actually were. Also a small circular rainbow could be seen around the stars. It was faint but if you looked for it you would find it.

Being a ninja allowed Naruto to let his eyes wander and still let him walk along a path. Although he had heightened senses he did not notice himself walking into the forest. It wasn't until he walked under a tree that he realized where he was. He quickly dragged his hands out of his pockets and looked around. He saw that the forest was covered in a light mist and that the leaves and grass had dewdrops all over them. What little light that came into the forest was reflected off of the dewdrops and spread throughout it. It was a very beautiful sight. Naruto wished Hinata were here to see it with him.


	17. CH17 The Beautiful Boy

Naruto took out his ocarina and lifted it to his lips. He blew into the ocarina and a beautiful melody was emitted from it. He always played songs that portrayed his emotions. This melody had a low leering tone to it. Naruto's sadness was conveyed all over the forest and nearby village.

Most of the villagers were asleep by now so they couldn't hear it but the team and their hosts were still awake around the table. The sound of Naruto's music drifted in through an open window.

"What's that sound?" asked Kiba.

"It sounds like music," stated Shino.

"It sounds so sad," said Tsunami.

_That music sounds like Naruto's ocarina,_ thought Sakura. Sakura got up and walked over to Hinata and quickly whispered something into here ear before continuing to Tsunami to ask here where the restroom was.

"It's down the hall to the right," said Tsunami as she pointed down a nearby hallway.

"Thanks Tsunami-san," said Sakura as she headed off down the hall.

"Um … I need to use the restroom as well," said Hinata.

Kurenai and Kakashi exchanged quick glances at each other. It was subtle enough for no one to notice.

"I'm going to scout the area around the bridge," said Kakashi.

"As will I," said Kurenai.

"I'll help clean," said Shino.

"That's awfully nice of you," said Tsunami.

While the rest of the team and Tsunami cleaned the table Hinata and Sakura were having a secret little chat by the restroom.

"Why did you whisper for me to follow you?" asked Hinata.

"That song that is playing right now is coming from Naruto," said Sakura.

"Really, how do you know?" asked Hinata.

"Because earlier in Konoha a few days ago I heard a similar song but it had a much happier tone. This song came from Naruto as well and this song sounds sad so I think he could really use your company right about now," said Sakura.

"Thanks Sakura-chan," said Hinata. Hinata then gave Sakura a hug and walked to the main area of the house.

"I guess they really love each other," muttered Sakura.

"That they do," said Kakashi as he walked up behind Sakura.

Sakura spun around and saw Kakashi right behind here. She nearly fell down in shock. "Wah! Kakashi-sensei what are you doing here?" asked Sakura in surprise. "I thought you said you were going out to scout the area."

"Kurenai said she could do it by herself and that she wanted me to find out what you two were up to," said Kakashi.

"Just talking," stuttered Sakura as she tried to catch her breath.

"I didn't know Naruto could play an instrument," said Kakashi

"You didn't hear me say…" began Sakura before Kakashi cut her off.

"If Naruto wanted to tell people about his relationship with Hinata I'm sure he would but if he doesn't then he has a good reason, and I'm not about to harm the few good things he has," said Kakashi.

"Thanks Kakashi-sensei I know he would like that his secret be kept a secret," said Sakura.

"Now that that is settled why don't you help the others set up their sleeping areas for the night," said Kakashi.

"Sure," said Sakura as she smiled at Kakashi and walked off.

"I really hope that people will accept it like Sakura does," said Kakashi.

"So do I," said Kurenai as she stepped out of the shadows.

"You too were curious then?" asked Kakashi.

"Well her father did ask me to look out for her so I don't want anything bad to happen to her," said Kurenai.

"Yeah," said Kakashi, "although by the way Naruto fights I think he could protect her against insurmountable odds."

"I'll have to see that to believe it," said Kurenai.

"Remember he did nearly beat my bell test," said Kakashi as he disappeared in a wave of shadow.

_I hope you're right Kakashi … I really do,_ thought Kurenai as she too disappeared in a wave of shadow.

In the forest's meadow Naruto was still playing his sad tune to his unknown audience. As his song crept to its end a figure stepped into the meadow. It did not make itself known so Naruto kept playing his song. As always his eyes were closed so that he could retreat to his own special place inside. It wasn't that bizarre labyrinth of his dreams but that of the abandoned park back in Konoha. When he finally finished the song he looked up at the sky.

"That was a nice song," said the figure.

Naruto quickly spun around and tucked the ocarina into his pocket. "What song?" asked Naruto as he tried to feign ignorance.

"The one you just finished playing," said the figure in the shadows. "Even though it was sad it was also nice."

"Who are you anyway?" asked Naruto.

"Forgive me for not introducing myself before now," said the figure. The figure stepped out of the shadows revealing it to be a girl wearing a pink kimono with dark pink flowers on it. The girl had long black hair and brown eyes. She was holding a basket filled with herbs. She walked up to Naruto and smiled. "My name is Haku."

"Haku … that's a nice name," said Naruto, "mine's Uzumaki Naruto."

"Nice to meet you Naruto-kun," said Haku.

"What have you got with you Haku-chan?" asked Naruto.

"Just some medicinal herbs," said Haku. "What were you doing here besides playing that instrument?"

"I was going to train," said Naruto. "You see I'm a ninja from Konoha and one day I'll get real strong and become Hokage."

"That's really ambitious," said Haku. "Naruto-kun, do you have precious people in your life that you train to protect?"

"Precious people?" asked Naruto.

"Yes, people that you would do anything to make sure they were okay," said Haku.

"Of course … I have many precious people in my life," said Naruto. The images of all of his friends, Hinata, and the Hokage went through his mind. "And I would do anything for them.

"That is good to hear," said Haku. "Well I must be going I have to get these back to my house before they spoil."

"Alright," said Naruto. "See you later Haku-chan."

"Good bye Naruto-kun," said Haku as she started to walk out of the forest. When she reached the edge she turned around.

"By the way," said Haku, "I'm a boy." He then turned and left the forest.

"What the hell?" said Naruto. "No way … he was almost prettier than Sakura-chan."

"I don't think she would like to hear you say that," said a voice behind Naruto.

Naruto quickly spun around and saw Hinata walking out of the brush and into the meadow.

"H-Hinata-chan what are you doing here," said Naruto as he tried to catch his breath.

"Sakura said you might need some company," said Hinata.

"What do you mean?" asked Naruto.

"Well we heard you playing that song and Sakura pulled me aside and told me that you might like my company," said Hinata.

"How did Sakura-chan know it was me?" asked Naruto.

"She heard you playing in Konoha," said Hinata.

"Does anyone else know about me playing music?" asked Naruto.

"I only know of Sakura-chan," said Hinata.

"Hopefully no one else knows," said Naruto.

"Why?" asked Hinata.

"I don't want to give people another reason to think I'm a freak," said Naruto.

"But your music is really good. Why would people think you are a freak if they knew that you knew how to play?" asked Hinata.

"I don't know," said Naruto. "They already hate me for some unknown reasons."

"Your music is nice Naruto-kun, I don't think anyone could hate you for it," said Hinata.

"_Yeah, I like it_," said a voice.

Naruto looked around but saw no one around him other than Hinata.

"What's wrong?" asked Hinata.

"Nothing," said Naruto, "just thought I heard something."

"Must have been the wind," said Hinata.

"Yeah," said Naruto.

Just then the hooting of an owl startled them.

"We should probably head back," said Naruto.

"Yeah they're waiting for us," said Hinata.

They both walked back to Tsunami's house just before midnight rolled by. They didn't want to disturb anyone so they crept into the house. They saw eight futon mats spread out around the living area. Sakura was sleeping next to Sasuke. There was an empty futon mat next to Sakura that Naruto inferred was his. Kiba and Shino left a futon mat in between them, which was probably Hinata's. There were two empty futon mats away from the rest of them, which were probably Kakashi's and Kurenai's.

"Goodnight Hinata-chan," mouthed Naruto.

"Goodnight Naruto-kun," mouthed Hinata.

They gave each other a small kiss then headed off to bed.

A/N: The fight of the wave arc is nearing ever closer. much will remain and as always there will be a plot twist ... the major one is still up ahead. it's really obvious so you won't have to look too hard for it and as i said before some might hate it others might like it.


	18. CH18 The Dream

A/N: ok guys here is where the crossover comes into play once you get done reading this you'll know what Naruto will xover with ... I'm not going to spoil it for anyone so you'll just have to read it to find out ... :D

That night the same dream he had earlier came back to him. He was standing in the middle of the flooded labyrinth. He walked around the maze until he came upon the enormous cage that housed the unfamiliar power.

"Welcome back boy," said the voice.

"I have a question for you," said Naruto.

"Ask away," said the voice.

"Are you…" began Naruto.

"…The Kyubi?" asked the voice.

A long silence passed between the two of them.

"Well," said Naruto.

"Well what?" asked the voice.

"Are you the Kyubi?" asked Naruto.

"I already answered that," said the voice, "yes I am the Kyubi."

"So Mizuki-sensei was right … I do have it in me," said Naruto.

"Hey now, I have a gender and a name, you don't have to call me it," said the Kyubi.

"Well what are they?" asked Naruto.

"I am female and my name is Yōkō," said Yōkō.

"Why did you attack Konoha Yōkō?" asked Naruto.

"That wasn't my fault," said Yōkō.

Yōkō then moved closer to the bars of her prison. The fierce face of the Kyubi could be seen as plane as day. But the face didn't have a sinister look on it. The look was more sorrowful than angry.

"You don't look like the monster that everyone describes you as," said Naruto.

"Thank you Naruto," said Yōkō.

"I've heard of your name somewhere before," said Naruto.

"Have you now," said Yōkō.

"Yeah … in a child fantasy book that I read," said Naruto.

"What did it say?" asked Yōkō.

"It said that there was once a beautiful woman. She would lure men into forests and sleep with them. Once the men were asleep she would eat their heart. The woman's name was Yōkō. Is that true?" said Naruto.

"Partly true," said Yōkō.

"Which part?" asked Naruto.

"I shall tell you the true tale," said Yōkō.

"Okay," said Naruto. Naruto then sat down on the stone floor.

"They were right about me being a beautiful woman and about my name but that was it," said Yōkō. "Men chased me into the forest and tried to kill me. Back then demons were plentiful. One demon found me, the Kyubi no Kitsune. It said that if it could use my body that it would protect me. I was tired from the chase and had no other options. I told the Kyubi that it could use me as it saw fit. It turned into an enormous amount of chakra energy and entered my body. I was suddenly filled with energy. Although I was given this new found power I could not control it. I couldn't control what I was doing and I ended up killing the men who chased me. The Kyubi said it was sorry for what had happened but I didn't care. I was no longer being chased and I was no longer alone. I later found that I could either travel in the form of the Kyubi or in my form. I chose to travel as the Kyubi whenever I was in danger and no one would bother me. Many years later I found someone who did not care for what was inside me. Although he seemed nice all he wanted was the power inside of me. His name was Kefka. He tried to steal my power one-day and it caused me to go crazy again. I ended up attacking your village, but it was his fault that I did so. One man out of your village knew it was not my fault and instead of destroying me he used his powers to infuse me in a newborn child. That child is you Naruto."

"I like your story better," said Naruto.

"Why is that?" asked Yōkō.

"Because even though a lot of people thought you were evil one person knew you weren't and tried to help you," said Naruto. "It's kind of like my story."

"It is, isn't it," said Yōkō.

"I'm guessing by that you can experience what I experience," said Naruto.

"Very perceptive," said Yōkō.

"Hey Yōkō, if you can turn into a woman why do you stay in the form of the Kyubi?" asked Naruto.

"The seal on my prison does not allow me to change forms," said Yōkō.

"What if I take it off?" asked Naruto.

"Then you will release me from the prison and you will die along with whomever is around you," said Yōkō.

Suddenly the image of Hinata flashed into Naruto's head.

"You wouldn't want her to die now would you?" asked Yōkō.

"No I wouldn't," said Naruto.

"Now Naruto I want you to know something," said Yōkō.

"What's that?" asked Naruto.

"If you ever need my help or that of the Kyubi just think of me and I will aid you in whatever way you wish," said Yōkō.

"Thank you Yōkō," said Naruto.

"You're welcome little one," said Yōkō. "Now it is time for you to wake up."

A/N: And there you have it finally the crossover is revealed but ... it's still a few chapters before it actually goes underway have fun till then...


	19. CH19 Hidden Strength

"Alright," said Naruto as he opened his eyes.

"Good now get up and get ready you idiot," said a voice over him.

Naruto's vision focused and he saw Sakura hovering over him. Naruto blinked a couple of times to get the sleep out of him and Sakura just sighed and went away. Naruto looked around and saw that many of the team had already left. In fact only Sakura and he were left.

"Where is everyone?" asked Naruto.

"At the bridge where we should be but you didn't wake up so Kakashi-sensei told me to wait for you here," said Sakura.

"Just go on without me I'll catch up," said Naruto.

"Fine if that's what you want," said Sakura. Sakura then grabbed her things and walked out of the door.

Naruto then hastily grabbed all of his things together and ran out of the door. He was then on his way to the bridge. Just then two figures walked up to Tsunami's house. They knocked on the door and Inari answered it.

"Yes?" asked Inari.

The two men were both very burly. One has a scar on his chest and did not wear a shirt. He had an eye patch on and blue pants. On his pants belt he had a sword sheath. His friend had green hair and was clothed in various colored clothing. He too had a sword. He also wore a dark blue beanie.

"We wanna see your mom," said the man with the eye patch.

"Yeah is she around," said the one with the green hair. They both laughed and kicked Inari. Inari was launched into the nearby wall. Tsunami came running out of the kitchen when she heard this.

Naruto was halfway to the bridge when he remembered that he had forgotten his leaf ninja headband. He immediately turned around and headed for Tsunami's to get it.

Back at Tsunami's house the two swordsmen were causing a lot of trouble.

"I am Zouri and this is Waraji," said the man in the beanie.

"Yeah and our boss, Gatô, would like a word with you," said Waraji.

"He really doesn't like to be kept waiting," said Zouri.

They both then advanced on Tsunami.

"Inari run!" yelled Tsunami.

"Yeah Inari you don't want anything bad to happen to your mom do you?" mocked Zouri.

Inari was frozen against the wall. He couldn't do anything. He sat frozen in fear as the two swordsmen tied up his mom. They then carried her out of the house and Inari crumpled down on the floor in tears. He then remembered what Naruto had said yesterday. "_You shouldn't cry just because you lost something … it makes you weak._" So Inari stood up and wiped away his tears. He then ran out of the house to find that the two men hadn't gone all that far. He ran after them and started to scream at them in rage. The two men looked behind them and started to laugh at the boy. They drew there swords and were about to strike Inari when Naruto had jumped in front of him. He quickly drew a kunai and deflected both swords.

"Naruto," mumbled Inari.

"I only came back here for my shinobi headband and here I find two assholes trying to hurt a kid and his mom," said Naruto defiantly.

"Get out of the way," ordered Zouri.

"Yeah or we'll kill her," said Waraji as he held his sword up to Tsunami.

"Kill who?" asked Naruto.

"The woman I'm carrying you idiot," said Zouri. Zouri turned around to find that all that was tied up was a tree stump. One of Naruto's shadow clones had helped Tsunami out of the rope.

"I didn't know tree stumps were considered women these days," said Naruto with a chuckle.

"You'll pay for that you brat," yelled Waraji. Zouri and Waraji then rushed at Naruto with their swords out. Naruto side stepped their attacks and knocked them both into the water.

"Gatô's gonna make you pay," yelled Waraji as they swam off.

"Buzz off you assholes!" yelled Naruto.

"Inari!" yelled Tsunami.

"Momma!" yelled Inari. "I'm sorry I couldn't do anything, I should have been stronger." They then ran for each other and fell to the ground in an embrace.

"Don't worry baby, everything's okay," said Tsunami as she consoled her son.

"Will you two be okay if I leave you here?" asked Naruto as he came back from inside the house to get his headband.

Tsunami nodded her head and returned to comforting her son.

Naruto then returned to his journey to the bridge going at an even faster speed.


	20. CH20 Sasuke's Sharingan

At that same moment the rest of Naruto's team had made it to the bridge. Though this was the scene of construction there was no one around. The bridge was deserted and a strange fog engulfed it.

"Stay alert," said Kakashi.

"Hai," said the genin.

Kurenai and Kakashi walked out in a grid search pattern as did Kiba and Shino. Hinata, Sakura, and Sasuke were left to guard Tazuna. Naruto was still nowhere to be seen. Just then the mist thickened. Kurenai and Kakashi took out a kunai while the others steeled themselves for an attack.

"Hatake Kakashi, still persistent as ever," said Zabuza.

"I thought you were killed," said Kurenai.

"Not if that hunter Nin was working with him," said Kakashi.

Just then the hunter Nin popped up right next to Zabuza. Zabuza then patted the hunter Nin's head. Then Zabuza thickened the fog so that those who were not immediately next to each other got separated from the rest of the group. This was not a big problem for Shino, Kiba, and Hinata because they were experts when it came to scouting things. But for Kakashi's team it was much more difficult. Just then Sasuke spotted the Hunter Nin jump off to an unknown place. Sasuke jumped after him.

"Sasuke wait!" yelled Sakura. Although she wanted to follow after him she could not leave Tazuna to pursue her own goals. The fog lifted up in the area that was not around Kakashi, Kurenai, and Zabuza so that Sakura was able to see what was happening to Sasuke.

Sasuke and the Hunter Nin were locked in fierce combat. They were defending themselves valiantly and were not budging an inch. They were striking each other with kunai until the Hunter Nin stopped for a second.

"You can't afford to stop!" yelled Sasuke as he rushed for the Hunter Nin.

"Haku, quit fooling around and finish him!" yelled Zabuza from inside the fog.

Meanwhile inside the fog Kurenai had been trapped by one of Zabuza's water clones and Kakashi could not find out where she or the real Zabuza was. He looked around but couldn't find him … even with the Sharingan out.

Sasuke was just about to hit Haku when he jumped back because Haku was just about to do a jutsu.

"Hyouton: Makyou Hyoushou!" yelled Haku. Suddenly mirrors completely surrounded Sasuke.

"What's this?" yelled Sasuke.

"Your doom," said Haku.

"Mirrors won't stop me," said Sasuke.

"We shall see," said Haku as he melded with the mirror behind him.

Sasuke smirked and threw a kunai at the mirror that had Haku's image on it. Although it appeared that the mirror would be shattered something came out of one of the other mirrors and deflected the kunai. Sasuke's smirk vanished and he pulled out a handful of shuriken and kunai. He threw them in every direction hoping to hit a mirror. Haku's image suddenly appeared in all of the mirrors. All of the images reached out of their respective mirrors and grabbed the weapons that were flying towards them.

Suddenly a look of fear was painted over Sasuke's face. The images of Haku threw back Sasuke's weapons. Sasuke was able to dodge them but only by a hairs breadth. It was at this point that Naruto made it to the scene. Naruto landed in the middle of Hinata and Sakura.

"Naruto where the hell have you been?" yelled Sakura.

"Sorry some goons tried to kidnap Inari's mom so I had to ruff them up," said Naruto. "Where's Sasuke?"

Hinata pointed to the dome of mirrors in the center of the bridge, "In there."

"What the hell is that?" asked Naruto.

"We don't know but that hunter Nin used it to attack Sasuke," said Sakura.

"Alright, stay here I'm going to go help Sasuke," said Naruto.

Naruto then ran off towards the dome of mirrors. As soon as he reached it a force shot Naruto back ten feet. He decided then to think of a better way to get in rather than just rushing in. Sasuke saw Naruto outside of the dome and had an idea.

"Naruto!" yelled Sasuke.

"What?" yelled Naruto.

"Attack the dome from the outside while I attack it from the inside!" yelled Sasuke.

"Alright!" yelled Naruto.

Sasuke on the other hand was having a more difficult time inside the dome than Naruto was outside of the dome. Everything he did was deflected, dodged, or parried. _How am I supposed to get out of this mess? Everything I do does nothing to him or his mirrors._ Sasuke was contemplating the many things he could do when something happened.

"Hey Sasuke I got in," whispered Naruto who appeared right next to Sasuke.

"Naruto what the hell, I told you to attack it from the outside!" yelled Sasuke.

"Yeah but I thought I could help you from the inside," said Naruto.

"You have no time to talk," said Haku as his images made a hand sign. "Hyouton: Sensatsu Suishou!" yelled the images. Suddenly all the mist in the dome solidified into ice needles. The ice needles then hurled themselves at Naruto and Sasuke. They both jumped out of the way to dodge the ice needles. Only one or two made it to their targets. Naruto and Sasuke then pulled out the needles and threw them to the ground.

"Naruto quickly run out of the dome!" yelled Sasuke.

"Right," said Naruto as he ran for the edge of the dome.

"Too slow," said Haku as he jumped from one mirror to a mirror near Naruto. While he was in mid jump he was moving so fast that everything around him slowed down. He got right next to Naruto and punched him back towards the center of the dome and then jumped into the mirror closest to him.

_That was strange_, muttered Sasuke.

"What the hell hit me?" muttered Naruto.

"Haku jumped out of a mirror and slammed you back into the center of the dome," said Sasuke.

"I didn't even see him leave the mirror let alone get up close to me," said Naruto.

"How could you not you both were moving really slowly," said Sasuke.

"I was using chakra to move faster," said Naruto.

Sasuke looked down at Naruto's feet just in time to see the blue chakra fade. He then looked at the mirrors to see Haku preparing for another attack. "Naruto move!"

Naruto and Sasuke quickly jumped out of the way and the needles that Haku threw.

"Naruto I have an idea," said Sasuke.

"What is it?" asked Naruto.

"I want you to continually run for edge of the dome," said Sasuke.

"What! He'll punch me back to the center," yelled Naruto.

"Trust me!" yelled Sasuke.

"Fine," said Naruto as he gathered chakra into his feet. He then made a break for the edge of the dome. Again Haku jumped out and went straight for Naruto. Sasuke caught a glimpse of him heading for Naruto. Naruto was then hit back towards the center of the dome. Naruto got up and wiped the blood from his lip. He then ran for the edge again, and again he was hit back to the center. Naruto did this many more times. Each time Sasuke was able to see more and more of Haku's movements. Soon his eyes were turning redder. Then two circular pupils with small tails formed on his left eye while one circular pupil with a tail formed on his right eye around the pupil in the center.

_I can see it,_ thought Sasuke as the fight was starting to slow down for him. He was able to see Haku jumping from mirror to mirror. Haku then started his attack dive on Naruto. Before he made it Sasuke quickly formed the hand seals for a jutsu.

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu," yelled Sasuke. A giant fireball erupted from Sasuke's mouth. It flew straight for Haku. Haku turned his head quickly towards the fireball and backed into a nearby mirror and out of a mirror closer to Naruto and punched him back towards the center of the dome.

"You almost had him," said Naruto. He then coughed up a bit of blood.

"I see I have to be serious with you two," said Haku as all of the images threw out a hail of ice needles.

Naruto and Sasuke tried to dodge but some of the needles made contact. Naruto was just about out of energy and he collapsed. Sasuke spun around and noticed Naruto was nearly unconscious. Haku saw Naruto and aimed his next attack at him.

"Naruto!" yelled Sasuke as Haku launched his attack. Sasuke ran in front of Naruto as the hail of needles flew towards Naruto. All of the needles impacted on Sasuke and he fell to his knees. Naruto struggled to get up into a kneeling position.

"Sasuke!" yelled Naruto, "you didn't have to take that attack for me."

"You idiot … that's what team mates are supposed to do," said Sasuke. Sasuke's eyes then faded back to black. They then glazed over and Sasuke began to fall backwards. Naruto quickly got up and caught Sasuke before he fell.

"I wasn't strong enough. I couldn't kill him … brother … I couldn't kill you," muttered Sasuke before his eyes closed and he went limp.


	21. CH21 Sadness and Sorrow

A/N: Alright this is it ... the climactic ending to the wave arc ... I've made a major change in this little part than you would recognize from the series again some of you might like it others might hate it so I'm prepared for the flames and praise if there are any ... read on and enjoy.

"No … Sasuke," muttered Naruto.

"Pathetic," said Haku.

"Sasuke!" yelled Naruto. _Yōkō, help me_!

"_As you wish,"_ said Yōkō.

Suddenly an enormous energy filled Naruto. Naruto's features began to change. His hair became much wilder, his whiskers became more defined, and his eyes turned a deep shade of red. He grew claws and fangs. Chakra then started to surge out of Naruto. The chakra was a deep shade of red. It filled the area inside of the dome and shattered all of the ice needles. The energy fumed inside of the dome and blew away all of the fog. The genin that were lost in the fog returned to bridge builder's side with Hinata and Sakura. The energy caused Kurenai's prison to shatter and she killed the water clone.

"What is that energy?" asked the stunned Kiba.

"I don't know," said Sakura.

_Did the seal break,_ thought Kakashi as he looked towards the dome. "I have to be quick." Kakashi pulled out a scroll and scratched his finger on a kunai and quickly opened the scroll. He drew he bloody finger along the scroll and threw it to the ground.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" yelled Kakashi as smoke erupted from the scroll. Suddenly eight different dogs clad in ninja gear jumped out from the smoke and rushed Zabuza. They bit into his arms, legs, shoulders, and various other places to hold him down.

Back in the dome the red chakra was starting to surge out of control. Then the chakra began to take form. Suddenly the head of the nine tailed fox appeared from the chakra. She roared in defiance and the ice mirrors began to crack. Haku quickly jumped out of his mirror and jumped to safety. Seconds later the mirrors shattered and Yōkō's chakra surged out into the open air.

"Is that Naruto making all that chakra?" asked Tazuna.

"I think it is," said Shino.

Naruto looked around for Haku and spotted him in the distance.

"I'm going to kill you for what you did!" yelled Naruto. Naruto used his chakra and bum rushed Haku. He punched Haku so hard in the face that his mask broke off. Naruto then noticed that it was the boy from the forest that he was fighting.

"How … how could you kill Sasuke?" asked Naruto.

"You would do the same to protect someone you love," said Haku.

"What do you know about love!" yelled Naruto. "You killed my friend!"

"When I was young my mother and father were killed because of my Kekkei Genkai," said Haku.

Yōkō's chakra began to subside and Naruto returned to his normal self.

"Why?" asked Naruto.

"They were afraid of my abilities," said Haku. "They would have killed me too if I hadn't of ran away. I reached the next town and lived as a homeless kid for a while before Zabuza found me and took me in. That is why I fight Naruto-kun. I fight to protect him, but now that you have beaten me I have nothing left to do so I ask that you kill me."

"What are you, insane?" asked Naruto.

"Please Naruto-kun there is nothing left that I can live for," said Haku.

"Fine," said Naruto.

At that same moment Kakashi was preparing a move that would finish off Zabuza for good. He began to gather a lot of chakra into his right hand. Soon the chakra became visible and then took the form of a ball of lightning. Then the sound of thousands of chirping birds could be heard.

"What is that?" yelled Zabuza.

"This move is one of the only moves in my arsenal that I have not copied from anyone. This move will finish you off. I call it Chidori," said Kakashi. Kakashi then started to run towards Zabuza just as Naruto began to run at Haku with a kunai. The Nin-dogs disappeared to escape the blast.

"Haku!" yelled Zabuza.

Just before Naruto struck Haku he formed two mirrors, one next to him and one in next to Zabuza. He jumped into his mirror and out of the one next to Zabuza. Kakashi's eyes widened and he didn't have time to move his attack. His Chidori struck Haku and blood spurted everywhere. Haku smiled and looked at Kakashi straight in the eye.

"I was able to protect him one last time," said Haku as he collapsed to the floor.

Naruto ran up to where Haku, Zabuza, and Kakashi were.

"Worthless … couldn't even stop one attack," said Zabuza.

"You piece of shit, is that all you can say!" yelled Naruto.

"What are you talking about you brat?" asked Zabuza.

"He died to protect you," said Naruto, "he loved you."

"He was just a tool, and tools don't have feelings," said Zabuza.

"Ninja aren't just tools," said Naruto. "We can have feelings too. We can laugh, cry, love … and even experience hate." Naruto glanced back at Sasuke. "Just because Haku was a ninja does not mean he was a tool. He loved you enough to die for you. It wasn't because you asked him to protect you it was because he heard you were in danger and wanted to protect you."

"He never told me this," said Zabuza.

"Are you that dense that you can't pick up on the subtle hints?" yelled Naruto.

"I guess I really didn't know him," said Zabuza.

"I guess I really didn't know you to be so soft Zabuza," said Gatô.

Everyone turned towards the voice and saw a short man with an army of thugs surrounding him.

"Gatô!" yelled Zabuza.

Gatô walked up to where Haku was laying and looked at him. "Pathetic." He then kicked the corpse a few times and then walked back to his gang.

"You bastard!" yelled Naruto as he walked towards the gang. Zabuza then stepped in front of Naruto to block his way. "What are you doing? Get out of my way!"

"Naruto was it, give me a kunai," said Zabuza.

"What?" asked Naruto. Zabuza turned around to reveal that he had taken off his bandage mask. His face was quite handsome for someone to allegedly be a monster.

"Please Naruto … for Haku's sake," said Zabuza.

Naruto never thought that Zabuza could ever be nice for someone so he threw his kunai up to Zabuza. Zabuza caught it in his mouth.

"Hey Gatô I'm gonna wipe that smirk off of your face with this kunai," said Zabuza.

He then rushed at Gatô's gang and began to kill them all with the single kunai he had. The gang tried to kill Zabuza by sticking their weapons into him but that didn't stop him. He killed so many and finally got up to Gatô. Gatô looked up at the looming Zabuza. Zabuza blocked out the sun so he looked like a menacing shadow with all those weapons sticking out of him. Gatô looked on in horror as the "demon" walked towards him. Then Zabuza's legs buckled and he fell to the ground. The kunai slipped out of his mouth.

"Kill him!" yelled Gatô. The gang then converged on Zabuza. Right before they started to beat him up an arrow fell down near Zabuza. The gang backed off and looked in the direction of the arrow. Inari was standing there clad in armor that looked as if it came from his kitchen hardware. He had a little crossbow in his hands and crossbow bolts strung on his back. Behind him was the entire village armed with various weapons. The all had menacing looks on their faces.

"We won't be bullied anymore and we won't run away!" yelled Inari as he pointed at Gatô. "Charge!" yelled Inari. The entire village then rushed for Gatô and his gang. The gang looked terrified and began to jump off of the bridge leaving Gatô on the bridge.

"Wait you have to help me I can't swim," said Gatô to his gang.

"Oh don't worry we'll help you," said Inari with a menacing look on his face. Then all of the villagers began to beat the snot out of Gatô.

Naruto walked up to Zabuza.

"Hey kid can you place me next to Haku?" asked Zabuza.

"Sure," said Naruto. He slung Zabuza's arm over his shoulder and half carried half dragged him over to Haku. Sakura ran over to where Sasuke was lying.

"Sasuke," said Sakura, "the battle is over you can wake up now." There was a silence where no one made a sound. They all looked at Sakura and Sasuke. "S-Sasuke? Wake up please … I need you to wake up." Sasuke didn't move. Sakura then began to cry while hugging Sasuke. A few moments passed and everyone looked sad.

"Sakura … please … heavy," mumbled Sasuke.

"Sasuke … you're alive," cried Sakura, "I'm so happy." She then hugged Sasuke as hard as she could.

"Sakura … still … heavy," mumbled Sasuke.

"Sorry," said Sakura as she knelt and laid Sasuke's head on her lap.

Naruto placed Zabuza next to Haku.

"I wish I would have known a lot sooner than this," said Zabuza. "At least we get to die together."

Just then a tear escaped Haku's eye and a gentle snow fell on the scene. Zabuza closed his eyes and lay next to Haku.

The next day the group was in a less than cheery mood. They packed their things and were just about to leave the village when they saw that the village was waiting for them by the bridge. Inari was standing in front of them with his mother.

"Naruto I'll never forget what you said," said Inari.

"Make sure you take care of your mom," said Naruto.

"I will," said Inari, "oh yeah guess what."

"What?" asked Naruto.

"We're renaming the bridge," said Inari.

"What are you going to call it?" asked Naruto.

"The Great Naruto Bridge," said Tazuna.

The genin smiled at this. "I'm gonna miss you guys," said Naruto.

The village waved and the team waved back. Just before they were going to leave Naruto heard a voice nearby.

"Hey kid I wanted to say thanks before you left," said the voice.

The team stopped and turned towards a shadow created by one of the bridge pillars. A figure stepped out of the shadows. The figure turned out to be Zabuza.

"I thought you were dead!" exclaimed Naruto.

"I guess I've got more in me than we thought," said Zabuza. Although he was alive he was badly beaten up with many, many bandages and he was holding a cane to keep up. "By the way Haku is also doing fine but his injuries were more severe and he couldn't make it to see you leave."

"Haku's alive too?" asked Naruto.

"Yeah he and I received medical attention from Tsunami when they found out we were barely alive," said Zabuza. "I'm going to help make this place a better place for everyone. I've given up being a bad ninja … now I'm going to try and make this place fit for kids to play in again."

"I'd like to see it when you make it Zabuza," said Naruto.

"I'll send word," said Zabuza as he waved goodbye.

Naruto and the others waved goodbye as well and then started their journey home. The journey was quite uneventful and they made it back faster than the journey to the wave country. Their mission was over. Although it was an A-rank mission they only got credit for the original C-rank one. The team said their goodbyes and went off to their houses for a good rest.

A/N: Yeah I never really liked it when Haku and Zabuza died so I made it so that they didn't die. I hoped you liked this chapter because if I can remember correctly the crossover will be the next arc ... I think.


	22. CH22 The Wolf

Naruto woke up the next morning completely refreshed. His wounds were gone and there were no scars in their places. He went to the shower and cleaned himself. He then got out and got dressed. He had his usual morning breakfast of instant ramen and then headed out for today's training session.

Naruto walked down the street towards the training ground where his team always trains. He was told to come here by Kakashi. Kakashi said something about walking up trees. _He probably wants us to perfect the Jutsu,_ thought Naruto. While he was walking down the path he noticed some else. The figure was walking down the path as well but in the opposite direction.

Naruto had never seen this person in Konoha before. This person was wearing a cloak and the only people that wore cloaks in Konoha were the ANBU, but this person wasn't wearing a mask. Usually the ANBU didn't walk around the town as well. Naruto couldn't see his face though because the hood of the cloak drooped down enough to block all light from entering the hood. Naruto and the cloaked figure were heading straight for each other. Naruto looked away from the figure because he remembered that it was impolite to stare. This turned out to be a bad move for Naruto. The man and he ended up bumping into each other.

"Gomenasai oji-san," muttered Naruto as he backed up from the man. Naruto looked up at the man and was able to see up into the hood of the cloak. The figures eyes appeared to be glowing with a fiery aura. The figure stared back at Naruto unblinkingly. Naruto had never seen such eyes before except on Kakashi and on Sasuke when they fought with Zabuza and Haku.

"Sorry, I should have been watching were I was going," said the figure whom Naruto was now able to tell was a man from the sound of his voice. The man just walked past Naruto and continued down the road. Naruto decided that he would tell Kakashi about this. Naruto dashed off towards the training ground.

Naruto arrived there to find an ANBU talking to Kakashi.

"Ooi Kakashi-sensei," yelled Naruto.

"Not now Naruto I'm busy," said Kakashi as he waved off Naruto.

"Who did you say you saw?" asked Kakashi just barely loud enough for Naruto's enhanced hearing to pick up. Naruto put a little bit more chakra into his ears to listen in on the conversation. "Naruto if you pry into this conversation I'll hang you up in a tree by your ears!" yelled Kakashi. Naruto fell backwards onto the ground clutching his ears in pain.

Naruto waited for the ringing to subside before he went over and sat down next to Sasuke and Sakura. Sasuke was covered in bandages from the fight and wouldn't be participating today in practice.

"What was that all about?" asked Sakura.

"I put chakra into my ears to listen on in the conversation between those two, then Kakashi yelled at me and blew out my eardrums," said Naruto as he rubbed his ears.

"Serves you right for being nosy," said Sakura as she folded her arms.

"What did you hear?" asked Sasuke.

"Do I have to punish you as well Sasuke?" asked Kakashi as he walked up to the group. Sasuke muttered something under his breath before he replied.

"No Kakashi-sensei," said Sasuke in defeat.

"Good, now on to the training," said Kakashi.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei," said Naruto.

"Yes Naruto," said Kakashi.

"Have you seen this guy in a cloak wandering around Konoha?" asked Naruto.

"I thought I told you not to listen in on my conversation," said Kakashi.

"I didn't listen in, I just was wondering because I bumped into him a few minutes ago," said Naruto.

"Can you tell me where?" asked Kakashi clearly losing interest in training.

"He's hard not to notice with those creepy red eyes," said Naruto.

_Red eyes,_ thought Sasuke, "Naruto show me where this guy is."

"He was back this way," said Naruto, "follow me." Naruto dashed off quickly followed by Sasuke and Kakashi.

"Hey … what's going on?" yelled Sakura as she dashed off after the three of them.

_Red eyes,_ Thought Kakashi, _why would he come back after all this time? I can't let Sasuke face him._ By the time the four of them reached the area where Naruto last saw the cloaked figure the man was already gone.

"Damn it," muttered Sasuke.

"Sumimasen oji-san, but did you see a man wearing a black cloak come by here?" asked Naruto to a man sitting in front of a shop.

"A black cloak you say?" asked the man. Naruto nodded and the man continued. "Let's see now … ah yes he went that way. Awfully kind fellow, that guy helped a woman who dropped her bag."

"Arigatou oji-san," said Naruto as the four of them raced off in the given direction.

They soon caught up with the black cloaked man. Sasuke ran up to him and fiercely spun him around to face him.

"Itachi!" yelled Sasuke as the cloaked man stared at him.

"I'm sorry but you have mistaken me for someone else," replied the cloaked man.

"You'll forgive me if I don't believe you," said Sasuke as he reached for the hood of the cloak. The man spun around Sasuke in a flash. Sasuke's eyes widened, he clearly did not see the man's movement for he was still reaching for the fading image of the hood.

"I will ask you kindly not to remove my hood," said the man.

"How did you do that?" asked Naruto.

"You need not know how I was able to do what I did," said the man.

"You're not from around here are you?" asked Kakashi.

"No I am not," said the man.

"What are you doing here?" asked Kakashi.

"Looking for an extremely dangerous man," said the man.

"How dangerous can one man be?" asked Naruto as he folded his arms.

"He nearly destroyed the world twenty years ago," said the man.

Everyone was shocked by this. No one man was powerful enough to do that.

"I should alert the ANBU," said Kakashi.

"No, if you alert anyone to his presence he might do something drastic to escape," said the man.

"What makes you say that?" asked Sakura.

"The last time I found him he destroyed a town so that I wouldn't be able to follow him," said the man.

"I have never heard of an entire town being destroyed before," said Kakashi.

"There is more to the world than your continent," said the man.

"I thought this was the only landmass in the world," said Naruto.

"There is much more than this, but the people here are content to stay within their boundaries," said the man. "Now if you will excuse me I must get back to my search."

"Maybe we can help you," suggested Sakura.

"If you really want to help then be prepared for the worst," said the man.

"Hey why won't you let us help you search?" asked Naruto heatedly.

"This isn't the best place to get riled up," said the man as he turned his head around. "Come with me."

The man led them to a secluded part of the village. When they arrived the cloaked man looked around the forested area.

"Don't worry," said Naruto, "only Hinata and I come here."

The man seemed to believe Naruto because he sighed and sat down in front of a tree.

"The man I am looking for is a sinister man that orphaned much of my land," said the man.

"That's horrible," said Sakura.

"This man goes by the name Kefka," said the man. "He is noticeable in a crowd but I haven't been able to find him yet, and I'm worried that he might be planning something big."

"I've heard that name somewhere before," said Naruto.

"Doubtful," said the man.

"Why is that?' asked Naruto.

"He only came here once before and that was probably when you were just born," said the man.

"You're probably right," said Naruto.

"Now by big you mean something dangerous to the village?" asked Kakashi.

"I'm afraid so," said the man.

"Why should we believe you?" yelled Naruto.

"Naruto don't be insensitive," yelled Sakura as she punched him in the head.

Naruto fell forward towards the man. He missed by a few inches of landing on him, but in the attempt to break his fall he lashed out his arms and accidentally ripped the man's cloak. The man stood up in shock. The tattered remains of the cloak fell to the ground.

"Naruto look at what you …" yelled Sakura, "… did," her last word was nearly a whisper.

The absence of the cloak revealed the man to have long black mangy hair. He had on a brown tunic and blue pants. A brown belt held up his pants. He also wore brown gloves and brown boots. What caused Sakura to stop yelling was much more surprising than his garb. He had black wolf-like ears springing out from his head, a black wolf tail with a silver tip, fangs, and startling fierce red eyes with slits for pupils. The tips of the gloves were stretched out as if he had claws and everyone suspected that his toes were clawed as well. He had blue marks on his face like Naruto's whisker marks.

The man immediately jumped into the tree. He knew the looks he was given all too well. There would be a scream in a few seconds. Many seconds went by and still no scream. He listened for anything.

"Naruto you moron you ripped his cloak," yelled Sakura. The man heard a few thumps and guessed that Sakura had hit Naruto a few times.

"Waa, Sakura I'm sorry," yelled Naruto.

"Don't say sorry to me say it to the man," yelled Sakura. Sakura suddenly stopped hitting Naruto, "Ara … where did he go?"

"He's in the tree," said Kakashi.

"Hey come down so Naruto can apologize," yelled Sakura up into the tree.

"No," yelled the man.

"Why the hell not," yelled Sakura in frustration.

"He's probably nervous about what you guys might say about him," said Kakashi.

"Hey come down we won't do anything to you," yelled Sakura up to the tree.

"Promise?" asked the man.

"Promise," assured Sakura.

The man jumped down in front of Sakura. His ears were drooping and his tail sagged.

"Now Naruto apologize," demanded Sakura.

"… Sorry," said Naruto through a sigh.

"Yeah, yeah warm fuzzies all around," said Sasuke.

"Hey lighten up moron," said Naruto.

"I'm out, see you later freak show," said Sasuke.

The man's ears drooped even lower.

"He meant me not you," Naruto said hurriedly.

"Are you sure?" asked the man.

"He always says stuff like that to me, um...," paused Naruto.

"Yeah, what is your name anyways?" asked Sakura.

"Raxoll," said the man.

"That's quite an unusual name," said Kakashi.

"For you yes, but for my people no," said Raxoll.

The four of them sat there while Raxoll continued to tell them about Kefka.

A/N: Gasp! Kefka is in Konoha, this can't be good. Who is this mysterious wolf-man named Raxoll. And why do I sound like the announcer of Dragonball Z. lol thought i'd try it out once. Anyways back on track. Kefka is in Konoha, now the crossover can commence.


	23. CH23 Kefka

After a few hours the ground suddenly began to shake.

"What was that?" asked Naruto as a couple more shakes hit them.

"An earthquake maybe?" suggested Sakura.

"No, this is more like something hitting the ground rather than the ground shaking," said Kakashi.

"It can't be," said Raxoll as his eyes widened.

"What is it?" asked Sakura.

"Guardians," said Raxoll as he raced off towards the main gate of the village.

The other three followed right behind him. While they were running towards the gate the noises were getting louder and more intense. When they reached the gate they noticed three giant walking machines heading straight for them. When the machines got to the gate they heard an eerie cackle from behind them. They quickly spun about and saw a man with pearl white skin and eerie red hair. He wore red regal attire that made him look like a fancy general.

"Kefka you bastard," yelled Raxoll.

"Uh-uh-uh Raxy-boy," said Kefka as he waved a finger at him, "not in front of the children."

"I've seen you kill children before so don't try to play the nice guy act with me," yelled Raxoll.

"You shouldn't be so high and mighty either boy, you've destroyed a lot of things as well," said Kefka.

Raxoll heard a couple of gasps behind him. He turned to see Naruto's and Sakura's shocked faces.

"Oh you didn't tell them … what a pity," said Kefka as he teleported onto the top of the leading machine. "Torch it."

The two outer machines sprang to life. The center of the machines opened up to reveal cannons. Soon a massive energy began to build up in the center of the cannon.

"Everyone, get back," yelled Raxoll.

Raxoll then jumped in front of the two machines. A red beam began to build up in the two cannons. This caused a heat wave to be seen in front of the machines. Raxoll built up some energy of his own. The two beams fired and Raxoll flung his arms forward and yelled, "Xar'zith!" Suddenly a giant ice wall sprang up from the ground. The fire beams slammed into the ice wall causing it to rapidly melt.

As steam and water filled the area the two guardians prepared for another attack. One of the guardians built up a blue beam that caused the air around it to immediately chill. The other built up a yellow beam that caused the air around it to be filled with static electricity. They launched their attacks at Raxoll. The ice beam hit the ground where Raxoll had been standing. Raxoll had jumped out of the way moments ago. In that place was a large ice explosion frozen in place. The lightning beam hit it soon after causing it to shatter into a million pieces.

"C'mon hit him you worthless people," yelled Kefka.

"We're trying sir but he's moving too fast for the guardian's sensors to lock onto him," said one of the soldiers.

Just then Raxoll stopped in front of one of the guardians and placed his hand on the left leg. Just then the armor began to freeze, and soon it cracked. The left leg shattered and the guardian tipped over. The soldier jumped out of the cockpit just in time because the crash caused the power systems to overload and the guardian exploded. The explosion left a small crater and many metal shards were flung in all directions. The shards slammed into the other guardians causing them to overload as well. Soon the air was filled with the sound of exploding guardians and metal pieces. Many of the now gathered shinobi and townsfolk had to duck and cover in order to avoid the metal shards. Raxoll and Naruto both melded with the earth in order to avoid the shards. Kakashi formed a few hand seals and slammed his fist into the ground to create a rock wall for Sakura and him to hide behind.

The soldiers took their positions around Kefka to try and protect him in case Raxoll or the others decided to attack. They took out their swords and made their stances.

"Those stances can't defeat my swordsmanship," said Raxoll, "I learned from the best."

"Oh those aren't for fighting," said a voice behind Raxoll. Raxoll quickly spun around to find that Kefka had managed to get behind him. "It's only for delaying." Kefka took out a small circlet from his coat.

"Kefka you Bi…" started Raxoll before Kefka slid the circlet onto his head and his eyes went blank.

"There now that you shut up I want you to do something for me," said Kefka.

"Anything sir," said Raxoll in an emotionless droll.

"Good, good, now I want you to kill your new friends," ordered Kefka as he walked around Raxoll.

"Yes sir," said Raxoll.

"Do it quickly, I'm in a hurry," ordered Kefka.

"As you wish," said Raxoll as he created a couple balls of fire in his hands. He then threw the fireballs at the rock wall that Kakashi and Sakura were behind. The rock heated up and melted. The two behind had long gone to find a better vantage point for the battle.

"Raxoll what are you doing?" yelled Sakura.

"Don't talk to me as if you know me!" yelled Raxoll.

"Kakashi what's wrong?" asked Sakura.

"I don't know, it looks like he's under a Genjutsu," said Kakashi.

"How can he be, that pale guy doesn't look like he knows any Genjutsu," said Sakura.

"It might have something to do with that metal thing on his head," said Naruto.

"Damn it Naruto don't sneak up on us," ordered Sakura.

"What kind of ninja would I be if I couldn't do that?" asked Naruto.

"Stop talking and pay attention!" yelled Kakashi as he pushed Naruto and Sakura away from a fireball.

"Stay still!" yelled Raxoll as he started shooting ice shards at the evading shinobi.

"Raxoll what are you doing we are your friends?" asked Kakashi whom had landed behind Raxoll.

"I have no friends," said Raxoll. He then formed an ice shard into a dagger and flung it at Kakashi.

Kakashi nimbly dodged it and flung a kunai at Raxoll. The kunai ended up banging off of the circlet around Raxoll's head causing it to crack.

"Ugh, what … what's going on … I … I can't control … my body," said Raxoll. His face was in agony as if he was bound by invisible chains.

"Stop dawdling and kill them!" yelled Kefka.

Raxoll's body then threw a few fireballs at Kakashi who dodged them easily.

"I can't stop … myself," said Raxoll.

"Kakashi what's going on?" yelled Naruto.

"That circlet on his head must be what's causing him to attack us!" yelled Kakashi.

"So we take it off?" yelled Naruto as he dodged a couple more blasts from Raxoll.

"Hurry!" yelled Raxoll.

Naruto quickly ran up towards Raxoll while evading his attacks until he was right behind him. He then gripped the circlet and flung it off of Naruto's head. The moment that the circlet left his head, Raxoll passed out.

"That blasted fool never could protect his slave crown!" yelled Kefka as he stormed out of Konoha.

"Sakura, Naruto, after him!" yelled Kakashi.

"Hai!" yelled Sakura and Naruto as they both dashed off for Kefka.

Sakura and Naruto jumped in front of Kefka and his men as they were leaving.

"Hold it right there," said Naruto as Sakura and he drew out a kunai.

"Who needs to walk anymore when you have magic," said Kefka.

"Magic?" asked Sakura.

"Mumbaro," chanted Kefka as he and his soldiers shifted out of phase with reality.

"What's going on?" yelled Naruto.

"Bye now," said Kefka as he waved to the two of them before disappearing completely.

A/N: -sigh- I made Kefka a little like Pegassus from Yu-Gi-Oh with that "Raxy-boy" oh and if you thought Kefka wasn't sinister enough just pm me or write it in a review and next time they meet up I'll try to make him more sinister.


	24. CH24 Incoming!

The next morning Raxoll awoke in a hospital bed. He tried to get up but was too tired to move much. He turned his head towards the open window by his bedside and saw a hawk sitting on the windowsill picking at its wing. A few seconds later there came a soft knock at the door. Raxoll didn't answer and the person knocked again.

"If you want to come in then come in but do stop knocking the noise is irritating," said Raxoll in a slightly groggy voice.

The door opened and Sakura was on the other side of the doorway. She stepped in and sat down on the stool next to Raxoll's bed.

"Are you feeling okay?" asked Sakura.

"I can't really move and my head hurts," said Raxoll.

"Why did you attack us?" asked Sakura.

"That thing on my head made me obey Kefka … I had no say in what I was doing," said Raxoll.

"You mean this thing?" asked Sakura as she lifted up the cracked circlet next to Raxoll's bed.

"Get that thing away from me!" yelled Raxoll as he tried to get out of his bed and as far away from the circlet as possible. This caused him to fall out of his bed.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" yelled Sakura hurriedly as she placed it on the farthest table from Raxoll's bed.

"Please destroy that thing," pleaded Raxoll.

"I can't," said Sakura.

"Why the hell not?" asked Raxoll as Sakura walked over to him and helped him back in his bed.

"Because our special ops ANBU want to examine it and see if they can reproduce it," said Sakura.

"Too bad for them because if you won't destroy it I will," said Raxoll as he pointed an outstretched hand towards the circlet. "Lassrinn," chanted Raxoll. A split second later the circlet exploded on the table that it was on. The table and the surrounding area were also destroyed in the blast.

Screams could be heard throughout the hospital and many hurrying footsteps were also heard. A couple of nearby shinobi rushed into the room to find the area in shambles. Sakura was staring wide eyed at the remains of the circlet and the table. Raxoll was lowering his hand when a shinobi grabbed his arm.

"What the hell did you do?" yelled the shinobi.

"I made sure that no one else can use that technology," said Raxoll as he tried to yank free from the grip of the shinobi.

"Hey, Hey I heard a loud bang what happened?" asked Naruto as he rushed into the room.

"Raxoll just blew up that metal circlet," said Sakura.

"Wow cool," said Naruto.

"Naruto you idiot the ANBU wanted to study that circlet!" yelled Sakura as she hit Naruto in the back of the head.

"But didn't you see how it controlled Raxoll … I wouldn't want anyone to hate anyone for something that was out of their control," said Naruto rather solemnly.

"Naruto," said Sakura in a low voice.

"See that's why I did it now let go if you value your arm," said Raxoll as he placed his free hand on the shinobi's arm. The shinobi immediately let go of his arm and Raxoll rubbed it a little to get the feeling back into it. Just then Kakashi walked into the room. The other shinobi stood at attention.

"Kakashi-sama this boy destroyed the circlet," said one of the shinobi.

"Did he now?" asked Kakashi.

"What should we do with him?" asked the shinobi.

"Nothing," said Kakashi.

"What?" asked all the shinobi in shocked tones, "but sir he destroyed--"

"If he didn't do it I was going to do it anyways," said Kakashi.

"You can't be serious sir," said the second shinobi.

"That power should not be in anyone's hands," said Kakashi, "not even our own." With that said Kakashi left the room. The other shinobi gave Raxoll a dirty look before leaving with Kakashi.

"I guess I'm lucky that Kakashi was on my side," said Raxoll.

"Don't worry about it too much," said Naruto, "Even though he reads those dirty books he's actually a very good guy."

"Dirty books?" repeated Raxoll.

"Don't ask," suggested Sakura.

"Whatever," said Raxoll. Raxoll then tried to get out of bed but that last bit of magic caused him to become severely exhausted.

"Raxoll you should be resting not moving," advised Sakura.

"I need to get to the roof," said Raxoll.

"Why do you need to get to the roof?" asked Naruto as he walked over to Raxoll's bedside.

"I need to signal my friends and tell them that I've found Kefka," said Raxoll.

"You mean there are more people like you?" asked Sakura.

"In some ways yes but in others no," said Raxoll.

"What does that mean?" asked Sakura.

"It means that they can do what he does but not what he looks like," said Naruto. "Am I right?"

"Yes," said Raxoll, "Now help me to the roof."

_How the hell did he know what Raxoll was talking about,_ thought Sakura as she pulled one of Raxoll's arms over her shoulder and helped him out of bed.

Naruto came over and helped Raxoll on his other side. Together they walked up to the roof mostly unnoticed save for the occasional patient and nurse. The nurses were harder to get by mostly because they wanted Raxoll to be back in bed. It took some persuading but eventually they got by them with the excuse of 'fresh air'. Soon they made it to the roof where the hospital dries all of its sheets.

"Bring me to an open area," said Raxoll. They did as he said and soon they were in an area past all of the sheets and blankets. "Good now stand back a bit this will be bright."

"Alright," said the two genin. They let Raxoll stand on his own and stepped back a few feet.

Raxoll stood for a moment looking up at the sky. Then he held up a hand towards the sky and began chanting a few words under his breath. Soon a bright red light could be seen forming in his right hand. The ball of light grew so bright that Sakura and Naruto had to partly shield their eyes.

Raxoll then held up his hand towards the sky and said, "Ssussun." With that the ball of light shot straight for the heavens. He then clenched his hand a few seconds later causing the ball to explode into many smaller rays of light that shot out across the land. A few minutes later the lights could no longer be seen.

"Now what?" asked Sakura.

"Now we wait," said Raxoll.

"For what?" asked Naruto.

"_Why didn't you just use the radio?"_ asked a female voice.

"Where the hell did that come from?" asked Naruto as he and Sakura looked around for the source.

Raxoll pulled a headset from his tunic pocket and slid it over his ear. "How was I supposed to know you were close by … we haven't exactly been in close contact over the years."

"_You still could have called," _said the voice.

"Edgar's radio doesn't exactly cover the distance between here and Narshe," said Raxoll.

"Who's he talking to?" asked Naruto.

"Most likely his friends," said Sakura.

"_Forget it we're coming in right now look east,_" said the voice.

All three of them looked to the east to see a small black dot growing larger in the distance. Soon many propellers and the hull of a ship could be seen as well as a giant balloon type object over it. The object was growing at an extraordinary rate and soon was large enough to make out the word 'Falcon' emblazoned on its hull. The object flew right up to the hospital and made an impressive stop right over it. The wind caused by the propellers was intense causing some of the sheets to be ripped off of their hangers and fly off.

"Set it down in that overgrown area just south of here!" yelled Raxoll into his mike.

"_Roger that,_" said a male voice.

The airship took off towards Naruto's abandoned park.

"What are you waiting for let's go," said Raxoll as he dashed off towards the now landing dirigible.

"I thought he was hurt," said Sakura amazed.

"I guess not," said Naruto as he and Sakura jumped after Raxoll.

A/N: By now you've guessed that their magic is spoken in a wierd language ... no i didn't make it up ... it's a real...ish language ... it's in drow ... if you want i can post so far what the words mean and do so from now on for each chapter that there is magic in or you can just check out this site here /Maerdyn/resources/translator/ for most of them.


	25. CH25 Kefka's Plan

A/N: Okay some of you wanted to know what the words that I wrote as magic words in my previous chapters well here they are...

Chapter 23: Xar'zith - Literally means ice but i forgot the word reiba which means wall so he just says ice but i wanted him to say ice wall

Mumbaro - Literally means move, because i couldn't find a drow word for teleport or any synonym for it i decided on move -sigh- lame huh?

Chapter 24: Lassrinn - literally means break cuz i couldn't find a word for explode but meh it kinda worked.

Ssussun - literally means light ... i used this because of Raxoll's signal being basically just light i could have used a drow word for signal but i chose this ... don't really know why

Chapter 25: ... actually there isn't one in this chapter ... enjoy anyways

"What was that thing?" asked Sakura as she caught up to Raxoll.

"That's my friend's airship," said Raxoll.

"What's an airship?" asked Naruto.

"Did he really just ask that?" Raxoll asked Sakura.

"Yeah," said Sakura through a sigh.

"It's a ship that flies through the air," said Raxoll.

"That's so cool," said Naruto.

Within moments the three of them were entering the park where the woman on the other end of the radio said they would land. When they got in they noticed that there was a bunch of ANBU surrounding the airship with kunai drawn.

"Hey they aren't your enemy, put those things away!" yelled Raxoll.

"_Yelling doesn't solve things,_" said the female voice.

"It usually works with me," said Raxoll.

"Why should we listen to you?" asked one of the ANBU.

"Because I could easily incapacitate you all if you don't," said Raxoll. As soon as he said that, golems made from rock sprung out of the ground behind the ANBU.

"Easy Raxoll no need to get violent, we didn't know that the ship belonged to your friends," said Kakashi.

"Sorry, I guess I jumped the gun on that one," said Raxoll.

"What's a gun?" Naruto whispered into Sakura's ear.

"Maybe it's a type of animal where he lives," said Sakura whom shrugged.

"Maybe if we met these friends of yours face to face we wouldn't be so violent," said Kakashi.

"I guess your right," said Raxoll. "Hey guys you can come out now," Raxoll said into the mike.

Just then a door opened up at the bottom part of the airship and people started to spew out of the airship. The first was a woman whom had blond hair and wore a white cape with a green tunic and green pants. The next was a woman with green hair whom wore a pink tunic with blue pants. After her came a man wearing a blue bandana with a simple blue tunic and brown pants. The next was a man whom wore blue regal attire. The next was a man with a nothing on but a pair of white pants. After him came a small white creature followed by a larger white creature, then a man wearing a black fighting suit. After him came a man completely shroud in a black ninja suit. Next was a man wearing animal skins, then someone wearing so much clothing it was hard to tell which gender s/he was. After that came an older looking gentleman wearing a brown trench coat. Then came a young woman who wore a pink bonnet and red clothing. After her was a really old man wearing similar clothing but in a darker red with out the bonnet.

"Wow Raxoll you know all these weird people?" asked Naruto.

"Hey if you don't change that weird into amazing I'm going to paint your picture," said the woman in the bonnet.

"Relm No!" yelled everyone.

"What?" asked Naruto.

"If she paints your picture the image attacks you with your strongest move," said Raxoll, "She painted mine once when I made her angry and it blew up a mountain."

"A mountain?" asked Kakashi.

"Yeah but that was me killing it rather than it using my most powerful move," said Raxoll.

"Well aren'tcha goin to introduce us Raxy?" asked Relm.

"Raxy?" asked Sakura.

"Long story," said Raxoll. "Okay from the order that they came out of the airship; That's Celes, Terra, Locke, Edgar, Sabin, Mog, Umaro, Cyan, Shadow, Gao, GoGo, Setzer, Relm, and Strago."

"Pleased to meet you," said Sakura as she bowed.

The others gave greetings of their own accord, but Relm's was the most noticeable. She dashed towards Raxoll and jumped ten feet just to pounce him to the ground.

"Hiya Raxy," said Relm.

"Ok really heavy … gonna pass out," said Raxoll though deprived of oxygen.

"Oh c'mon I'm not that heavy," said Relm.

"Please get off of him," said Sakura. "I know he doesn't look it, but he was recently injured by Kefka."

Just then all of Raxoll's friends stopped what they were doing and stared at Sakura.

"What'd I say?" asked Sakura.

"They all still think Kefka is dead," said Raxoll as Relm got off of him.

"How is he still alive?" asked Terra.

"I don't know but on my journey to become stronger I heard stories of him," said Raxoll, "I thought they were just stories of what he had done but later I found out that they were stories of what he was still doing."

"After ten years why surface now?" asked Celes.

"He probably found out that his weapon that he lost was somewhere near here," said Raxoll.

"You mean that demon fox that he caused to go out of control is here?" asked Edgar.

"Yes but I don't know where exactly," said Raxoll.

This time the shinobi were silent. Kakashi and the ANBU looked slightly towards Naruto. Naruto looked depressed while Sakura looked confused.

"Fox demon huh?" asked Naruto.

"At first we thought it was an Esper but later we found out that it was a demon," said Raxoll.

"Stop calling her that!" yelled Naruto.

"What?" asked Raxoll.

"She's not a demon," said Naruto.

"But Kefka called it that," said Raxoll.

"She's not an it she's a her and her name is Yōkō!" yelled Naruto.

"Sorry I didn't know that you knew her," said Raxoll.

"Don't make accusations before you know the person you are accusing," said Naruto as he ran off.

"Naruto!" yelled Sakura in a fleeting attempt to stop him.

"Don't worry I'll talk to him," said Raxoll. Raxoll then ran after Naruto.


	26. CH26 Onward to Narshe

Raxoll soon caught sight of Naruto running towards a mountainous area behind the village with stone carvings of four faces on it. Raxoll hastened his speed to try and catch up with Naruto. Naruto though had other ideas even though he did not know that Raxoll was following him he increased his speed towards the mountain. By the time that Raxoll was within shouting distance with Naruto they had made it towards the top of the mountain via a path carved into the mountain face.

"Hey Naruto wait up!" shouted Raxoll.

"What do you want?" said Naruto angrily as he rounded on Raxoll.

"I didn't mean to talk about Yōkō like that," said Raxoll.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you, it's just whenever I know someone is being treated wrongly it just makes me really angry," said Naruto as he clenched his fists on a railing at the edge of the mountain top.

The sun was just about setting on the village. This made the village look like it was on fire. Smoke was still rising from one of the gates where Kefka had attacked. Raxoll could barely make out some people cleaning up the wreckage. A soft wind blew through the area around Naruto and Raxoll. Raxoll caught the scent of someone coming towards them.

"We're not alone," said Raxoll.

"It's only Hinata," said Naruto after sniffing the air.

"How can you tell?" asked Raxoll, "Many humans do not have that ability."

"I'm not your average human," said Naruto.

"Naruto what are you doing up here?" asked Hinata as she walked up towards him from behind a building.

"Talking with a friend," said Naruto.

Hinata turned the corner of the building and saw Raxoll. She gasped at his appearance. Raxoll's ears drooped a little at this.

"It's okay Hinata he's a really good guy once you get to know him," said Naruto.

"I wasn't afraid Naruto," said Hinata.

"Then why did you gasp?" asked Raxoll.

"Ano … you're dog ears … they're kind of cute," said Hinata as she shifted the dirt with her shoe.

"They're wolf ears but thank you all the same," said Raxoll.

"Gomen … umm what is your name?" asked Hinata.

"Raxoll," said Raxoll.

"What were you two talking about?" asked Hinata.

"Just the well being of someone," said Raxoll.

"Who?" asked Hinata.

"Someone that my friends and I have to protect," said Raxoll as he smiled at Naruto.

Naruto smiled back and Hinata looked between the two with a confused look on her face.

"What's going on?" asked Hinata.

"I'll tell you about it later," said Naruto, "Now how about we go on an adventure."

"Adventure?" asked Hinata.

"I never said anyone of you could come," said Raxoll.

"But our friend is in trouble and we need to stop that creepy guy," said Naruto.

"If a friend is in trouble you must do everything in your power to protect that friend," mumbled Raxoll.

"What?" asked Naruto.

"Nothing, just something someone once told me," said Raxoll.

"So are we going to go or what?" asked Naruto.

"Sure why not," said Raxoll.

The three of them then headed off towards the Falcon. When they arrived they found the shinobi of Konoha talking to the people that came out of the Falcon.

"Raxy!" yelled Relm as she ran over and jumped onto Raxoll.

"How'd it go?" asked Sakura as she peered over Relm.

"We talked it out," said Raxoll. "Hey, Relm?"

"Yeah?" asked Relm.

"Can you please get off of me?" asked Raxoll.

"Aww you're no fun," pouted Relm as she got off of Raxoll and headed to the airship.

"Naruto is going to come with us to defeat Kefka," said Raxoll.

"What, Why?" asked Sakura.

"Because he attacked Konoha," said Naruto.

"For that reason I am going also," said Hinata.

"I guess I'm going to since the Hokage wants information on that Kefka guy," said Kakashi.

"I'm gonna have to go to keep Naruto out of trouble," said Sasuke.

"When did you get here?" asked Naruto as he rounded on Sasuke.

"Just a little while ago," said Sasuke.

"I'm going to then," said Sakura.

"Who said you can all come?" asked Raxoll.

"The more the merrier," said Relm.

"You're not helping Relm," yelled Raxoll.

"I thought you agreed to call me Relmy," said Relm.

"That was ten years ago," said Raxoll.

"Still," persisted Relm.

"Fine, Relmy," said Raxoll.

"Are we going or what?" asked Celes.

"Yes, time waits for no man," said Cyan.

"Man I can't wait to punch Kefka's face in," said Sabin.

"Umaro smash puny Kefka," grunted Umaro.

"Kupop-po!" yelled Mog.

"He won't steal the show this time," said Locke.

"So says the thief," said Edgar.

"Treasure Hunter!" yelled Locke.

"Let's just get this over with," said Shadow.

"If we must fight we will," said Terra.

"He won't change the world again," said Setzer.

"Gau fight too," said Gau.

"I'll do as you do," said GoGo.

"I'm not dead yet," said Strago.

"Looks like we're all in this," said Naruto.

"Then I guess it's time to go," said Raxoll.

Everyone then piled into the airship.

"Setzer set course for Narshe," said Raxoll.

"Who died and made you captain of the ship?" asked Setzer.

"Would you rather we go somewhere else?" asked Raxoll.

Setzer just waved him off and turned on the engines. The falcon's engines spurred to life and began to lift the airship off of the ground. The airship flew higher and higher until it rose higher than the clouds themselves. Then it darted off towards the town of Narshe and the world that Kefka was trying to take over.

A/N: I'm really sorry for all those one-liners but i kinda wanted to make the chapter longer and also let everyone talk at least once. Also I got to wondering... not to sound condecending or anything but ... do any of you really care for the chapter titles or no?


	27. CH27 Mysterious Wolf

The inside of the airship was much more amazing than the outside. The sounds and smells of machinery could be heard and smelt all throughout the room. There were pipes, cogs, meters, railings, connectors, wires, and circuitry all throughout the room. The original crew of the Falcon wandered off towards their respective stations.

"Sugoi," whispered Sakura.

"Sugoi?" asked Raxoll.

"It's Japanese, it means amazing," said Sakura.

"I see, it is quite amazing," said Raxoll as he looked over the room.

"Wouldn't all of this machinery make the ship too heavy to fly?" asked Kakashi.

"Setzer told me that he filled the ship's balloon with helium or something to make it lighter than air," said Raxoll. "Though this isn't as amazing as what's upstairs."

"What's upstairs?" asked Hinata.

"You'll see," said Raxoll.

The six of them walked up the stairs at the far end of the room and found themselves in a mini casino like room.

"Why is there a casino in the ship?" asked Naruto.

"Setzer fancies himself a gambler," said Raxoll.

"_I'm the world's best gambler_," said Setzer over the ships intercom.

"Not in that one game ten years ago when I cleaned the floor with you," said Raxoll.

"_That was a fluke_," said Setzer.

"Anyways, when we take a break we usually come here to hang out and relax," said Raxoll.

"Um Raxoll," said Sakura.

"Yes?" asked Raxoll.

"Where are the rooms where we will be sleeping?" asked Sakura.

"Those are down that hall over there," said Raxoll as he pointed to a hall next to a black jack table.

The six of them walked down the hall towards the rooms. They reached a long section of doors. They passed one door that had a sign on it that said "Keep Out!" and Naruto stopped.

"What's up Naruto?" asked Sakura.

"What's in here?" asked Naruto as he reached for the door handle and began to open up the door.

Raxoll quickly jumped behind Naruto and slammed his hand on the door forcing it shut. "Don't go in there!" yelled Raxoll as his eyes flared into a bright crimson.

"I'm sorry I didn't know," said Naruto.

"Didn't you see the sign that said 'Keep Out!'?" asked Sasuke.

"No but he didn't have to yell," said Naruto.

"He had a good reason to yell," said Relm who had just walked up to the group.

"Why?" asked Hinata.

"That is not for me to tell," said Relm as she placed her hand on Raxoll's shoulder.

Raxoll calmed down and his eyes went to their normal dark shade of red.

"Please do not go in there," said Raxoll as he let go of the door and continued down the hall.

"What was that about?" asked Naruto quietly.

"If he doesn't want to say then you shouldn't pry Naruto," said Kakashi.

"I wonder what's in that room," whispered Naruto.

"Nothing for you to see," said Raxoll.

"How did you hear me?" asked Naruto.

"Did you forget that I have wolf ears?" asked Raxoll without turning.

"Kinda yeah," said Naruto.

"I'll take that as a compliment," said Raxoll as he stopped.

"Why did you stop?" asked Sasuke.

"Because these are your rooms," said Raxoll as he pointed at the last of the doors.

"But there are five of us," said Hinata.

"Yes, I will take one room while you and Sakura take the second and Naruto and Sasuke will take the third," said Kakashi.

"I'm not rooming with him," yelled both Sasuke and Naruto as they pointed at each other.

"I don't see what other option we have," said Kakashi.

"You could let them decide," said Relm.

"Yeah let us decide we're old enough anyways," said Naruto.

"You're only twelve years old," said Kakashi.

"Yes but we are ninja and are trained that things like this can and will happen where we aren't allowed the luxury of separation because one of us is a boy and the other is a girl," said Naruto.

"I guess there is something in that space between your ears," said Kakashi.

"Did you just call me stupid?" asked Naruto as he clenched his fists towards Kakashi in mock fight.

"Relax Naruto he just called you smart," said Sakura.

"Oh," said Naruto as he put down his fists.

"Even though I probably know the answer to this I'll ask anyways. Who would you like to room with?" asked Kakashi.

"I'll room with Sasuke-kun," said Sakura.

"Whatever," said Sasuke.

"I guess that leaves you and Hinata, Naruto," said Kakashi.

"I guess so," said Naruto.

"Now that that is settled you should get some rest," said Raxoll, "Unless Setzer changed the Falcon then the trip to Narshe should last two days."

The members from Konoha bowed towards Raxoll and Relm and entered their rooms. Naruto and Hinata's room was spectacular. The walls were lilac with pastel vines painted up and down them. The floor was a burgundy wood color. There was one bed with white linens and a couch with green cushions. Separating the bed and couch was a lighter burgundy table and a red carpet adorned with darker red roses. Across from the door was a glass door with green felt curtains around it. The door opened up to a balcony on the side of the Falcon. Outside one could see the stars and the half moon.

"Sugoi," said Naruto as he finished looking around the room. "This is much better than my apartment."

"I wouldn't say that," said Hinata.

"Why's that?' asked Naruto as he turned towards Hinata.

"Because your apartment has one thing that this room does not have," said Hinata.

"What's that?" asked Naruto as he leaned close to Hinata.

"You," whispered Hinata as she leaned close to Naruto.

They both then embraced each other in a long kiss. The kiss lasted for a few minutes before they had to break free for air.

"I always liked being around you Hinata-chan," said Naruto.

"Why's that?" asked Hinata as she blushed.

"You made me feel special when everyone else made me feel like a plague," said Naruto.

"Naruto-kun," whispered Hinata.

"I shouldn't be talking about sad things when I'm with you," said Naruto.

"I'm just glad I can make you happy Naruto-kun," said Hinata.

"We should get some sleep," said Naruto.

"Okay," said Hinata.

They both turned towards the bed and saw that there was no other bed.

"I'll sleep on the couch," said Naruto.

"Can't you sleep in the bed with me?" asked Hinata.

"I thought you'd never ask," said Naruto.

They both took off their shoes and walked towards the bed. They crawled under the covers and held each other in their arms. Hinata nestled her head on Naruto's chest while Naruto rested his head on the pillow. Hinata soon fell asleep in Naruto's arms. Naruto closed his eyes and saw that Yōkō was smiling at him. Naruto smiled back and fell asleep to the sound of Hinata's breathing and heartbeat.


	28. CH28 Cooking with Naruto

Morning seemed to come all too quickly for Naruto. The sun's rays shone through the balcony door and woke him up. Hinata's face was away from the light so she did not wake. Naruto edged out of the bed careful not to wake Hinata. He walked to the door and headed out of his room. He walked down the dimly lit hallway towards the casino room. When he got to the room he saw Setzer looming over a black jack table. Naruto heard Setzer mumbling something and he decided to talk to Setzer about Kefka. Naruto walked over to Setzer and saw that Setzer had fallen asleep in the middle of a game of solitaire. Naruto chuckled and walked to the ladder to the top of the ship. He climbed the ladder and appeared topside. He saw that the sun that had woken him was the dawning sun. The sun was a soft orange color which caused the cloud cover around the ship to be slightly orange as well.

"I guess I can train while I wait for everyone to wake up," Naruto said to himself.

"Just don't get in my way," said a voice behind Naruto.

Naruto spun around on his heel to see that Raxoll was on a raised platform steering the ship. "Don't do that," said Naruto as he tried to calm himself down.

"You're supposed to be a warrior things like that shouldn't scare you," said Raxoll.

"When I'm tensed for a battle I try to sense things but when I know I can relax so I do relax," said Naruto.

"Whatever," said Raxoll.

"You know you should relax a little too," said Naruto.

"What do you mean?" asked Raxoll.

"You look like a freaking statue, slump a little it won't kill you," said Naruto.

"Just get to your training that you were going to do," said Raxoll.

"Fine I will," said Naruto as he headed to a clear section of the ship and started to train.

Naruto put his fingers together for his signature move. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" yelled Naruto and immediately four Naruto clones appeared around the original Naruto.

"Now what?" asked one of the Naruto clones.

"You could check and see if anything lodged itself onto the airship," said Raxoll.

"Yeah, yeah we're going," said Naruto as he and his clones climbed the ropes up to the top of the balloon.

When the reached the top of the balloon the wind almost blew them off.

"You might want to be careful up there! The crosswinds can be quite fierce!" yelled Raxoll.

"Now you tell us!" yelled one of the Naruto clones.

"Hey at least we can train our tree walking skills," said Naruto.

"Hey yeah," said one of the clones.

The Naruto clones and Naruto gathered chakra into their feet and began to walk along the balloon checking for tears and other things. They found nothing wrong with the balloon so they headed back to the top of the ship. By the time they were done and back onto the ship the sun had risen above the clouds. It was probably nearing noon when Naruto dispelled his clones.

"Thanks for the help Naruto," said Raxoll, "You can get some food down in the kitchen if you're hungry.

"You read my mind," said Naruto as he rubbed his stomach and headed towards the door to the casino room.

"Actually I just heard your stomach," said Raxoll.

Naruto scratched his head and headed into the casino room. When he got to the bottom of the ladder he saw that Setzer and his solitaire game were gone. Naruto looked around the room for a sign that showed where the kitchen would be. All the hallways looked the same to him. Naruto was about to try a nearby hallway when Mog bounced into the room.

"Hey um … who are you again?" asked Naruto.

"The name's Mog kupo," said Mog.

"Why do you say kupo all the time?" asked Naruto.

"It's a habit for all moogles to say that," said Mog.

"I see … hey where is the kitchen?" asked Naruto.

"Follow me," said Mog as he bounced toward the hallway that Naruto was about to try.

A few minutes later Naruto and Mog had reached the door at the end of the hallway. Naruto and Mog went through the door to find a few people setting out pots and pans to start cooking lunch.

"What are they going to be making?" asked Naruto.

"I don't know kupo," said Mog as he left the kitchen.

Naruto sighed and walked over to the chefs. "Hey guys what are you going to be making?"

"Chicken, potatoes, and spinach," said the head chef.

"That's more of a dinner than a lunch," said Naruto.

"Did you have something better in mind?" asked the head chef with an irritated tone.

"How about ramen?" asked Naruto.

"What is this ramen?" asked one of the chefs.

Naruto looked stunned when the chef asked that question. "Step back and watch the master at work," said Naruto as he walked up to the pile of ingredients that was set aside for cooking. Naruto grabbed some celery and chopped it up into small sections. He took the chicken and put it into a pot of water and set it onto a fire. He then grabbed some basil and spread it into the pot of water. He then took a green onion and sliced it into very small pieces and added it too the pile of celery. After a little bit the chicken was ready and Naruto took it out and placed it on a sauté pan and set a low fire under it. The water that had been used to lightly cook the chicken smelled a little bit like chicken. Naruto put a few eggs into the boiling water and returned to his chopping board this time chopping up a carrot. Naruto then started looking for another ingredient.

"Hey I can't find any fish cakes," said Naruto.

"Fish cake?" asked a chef.

"Yeah they usually have a spiral on it like the back of my jacket," said Naruto as he pointed to the back of his jacket.

"We don't have that," said the head chef.

"That's okay I usually bring my own," said Naruto as he took out a scroll from his bag and put some chakra into it. A small bowl of fish cakes appeared on top of the scroll.

"They smell funny," said one of the chefs.

"It's fish," said Naruto.

"Point taken," said the chef.

Naruto then added some of the fish cakes to the growing pile of ingredients. By that time the eggs were done and Naruto took them out of the water. He peeled off the shell and sliced the eggs in half. He took out another scroll and a small bottle appeared on top of it. He poured the sauce labeled 'Maggi Sauce' into the boiling water and stirred it thoroughly. He then added all of his ingredients and began to chop up the chicken. Once that was done he added the chicken pieces to the slowly cooking broth. He then took out another scroll which had ramen noodles in them and added them to the softly boiling pot of ramen broth. A few minutes later the pot of chicken ramen was done.

"It smells good," said one of the chefs.

"It's the best I could do on short notice," said Naruto.

"This should make for a decent lunch," said the head chef.

"It will be a great lunch!" yelled Naruto.

"If it's good that is," said the head chef as he grabbed a spoon and fork.

The head chef dipped his spoon into the broth and tasted the broth. He then set down the spoon without so much of a twitch in his facial expression. He then tasted each of the ingredients that Naruto put into the soup. After which he put down the fork he had.

"So what do you think?" asked one of the chefs.

"It's probably the best soup I've ever tasted," said the head chef with a smile.

"Told ya it was good," said Naruto.

"Well you saw how to make it now let's make enough for the entire crew," ordered the head chef.

"Yes sir," said the other chefs.

A few minutes later the kitchen was a bustle with busy chefs making Naruto's chicken ramen. Naruto had left his personal ingredients out for the chefs to use. He would just have to restock once he got back to Konoha.

A while later Naruto heard the sounds of people coming to the dining room which was right next to the kitchen. He looked at the clock nearby which said one thirty. The smell of chicken ramen had wafted throughout the entire ship. Pretty soon the entire dining room was full of the crew and guests of the Falcon. There were four giant pots of chicken ramen set out on the table. Naruto saw Hinata sitting next to Sakura and he headed towards her.

"I missed you when I woke up," said Hinata as Naruto sat next to her.

"I woke up early so I decided to train," said Naruto.

"Wow this ramen looks tasty," said Sakura.

"How do they know how to make ramen they don't look Japanese?" asked Sasuke.

"I showed them how to make it," said Naruto.

When Naruto said this Sakura, Kakashi, and Sasuke froze just before taking a bit of their soup.

"It's delicious," said Hinata after she had eaten some.

"Really?" asked Sakura suspiciously.

"I'm not a bad cook," said Naruto.

After that lunch passed by rather nicely, everyone was either talking or eating. After a little bit Setzer left the table and the room.

"Why is he leaving?" asked Kakashi.

"Someone has to fly the ship while Raxoll eats," said Locke.

"Are you all trained to fly the ship?" asked Naruto.

"Most of us are," said Celes.

"I wish I could fly the ship," said Relm.

"Not yet you won't," said Strago.

"You're no fun," said Relm.

The argument between Relm and Strago continued on for a while longer when suddenly the ship lurched to one side. The food started to slide off of the table. Everyone on one side of the table had to jump out of the way. Just then Setzer burst back into the room.

"We're under attack from the Imperial Air Force!" yelled Setzer.

A/N: Sorry for the supposed "Filler Episode" I couldn't really think of a way to pass the time before an action sequence occured so I decided to have Naruto have his own cooking show. Also ... I was a tad hungry when I made this.


	29. CH29 Battle in the High Skies

The group rushed out of the dining room towards the ladder up to the deck of the ship. Halfway down the hall an explosion shook the ship.

"That didn't sound too good," said Edgar.

"We've got to hurry," said Relm.

They continued on down the hall with increased speed. When they reached the casino room they saw it was in shambles. The explosion that had wretched the ship had torn a hole through the deck right into the mini casino. The group raced for the top of the deck. When they reached it they saw that much of the deck was either broken loose or charred.

"Terra we need to shoot down those airships," said Celes.

"Right," said Terra.

Terra and Celes took position on either side of the airship and started launching out spells towards the enemy airships. Celes was firing waves of ice towards the airships causing their engines to freeze and their inevitable plummet to the sea below. Terra was launching fireballs towards the balloons of the airships causing the airships to explode. Suddenly a stray missile that was launched from an enemy airship exploded near the Falcon's engines causing some to die and others to slow. The airship started to plummet towards earth.

"We've got to make a crash landing!" yelled Setzer.

"There isn't any land nearby!" yelled Raxoll.

"There's some over there!" yelled Sakura as she pointed to a nearby landmass.

"We'll never make it!" yelled Edgar.

"If only we had a little more wind blowing in our favor kupo," said Mog.

"Wait that's it!" yelled Naruto.

"Yeah but nothing can change the wind," said Kakashi.

"I can," said Naruto.

"Wishful thinking can't help us," said Raxoll.

"I've done it before and I can do it again," said Naruto.

"When?" asked Sakura.

"When I was late getting to school one day I accidentally used too much chakra to get to school and I jumped too high so I used more chakra to create an air torrent that slowed my fall I think that I can do the same with this ship," said Naruto.

"Whatever you're gonna do do it fast!" yelled Raxoll who was desperately trying to keep the ship steady.

Naruto ran to the center of the airship and sat down cross legged. He placed his hands together in the hand symbol for bird. "Fuuton," Naruto muttered as he closed his eyes. He found himself in a familiar place, the labyrinth of his being. He looked around and saw that he was in a place that he had never been before. He knew that he wouldn't have enough chakra on his own to lift the airship enough so that it wouldn't crash in the water. He tried desperately to reach the dry space where Yōkō was imprisoned. Turn after turn led him to new and even stranger halls. He started to panic which caused the water level in his subconscious mind to rise. Soon he was wading around in waist deep water trying to find Yōkō. The water continued to rise until he was drowning in panic. Suddenly Naruto felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around expecting to find the cage where Yōkō was kept but he saw nothing. He then opened his eyes and saw that Hinata had placed her hand on his shoulder. He was sweating profusely and was shaking. He immediately calmed down at the touch of Hinata.

"I want to help," said Hinata.

"Me too," said Sakura who had come over and was standing behind Hinata.

"I guess I should help you out too you weakling," said Sasuke.

"Just show us what we need to do," said Hinata.

"Sit down and make the bird hand symbol and concentrate on making air shoot up towards the airship," said Naruto.

"That's it?" asked Sasuke.

"It's a lot harder than it looks," said Naruto.

Sasuke protested once more but followed Naruto's orders along with Sakura and Hinata. They sat down in a circle with Naruto and made the bird hand seal. Their combined chakra concentration caused their chakra to become visible. A giant chakra flow was emanating from the four of them.

"What are they doing?" asked Strago.

"They're combining their chakra in order to perform a Jutsu that they wouldn't normally be able to perform alone," said Kakashi.

_I guess that's what they call magic in their land_, thought Strago.

Suddenly a giant burst of air hit the bottom of the ship's hull causing their fall to slow immensely.

"We might just make it if the other engines keep up," said Setzer as he and Edgar ran back to the propellers. When they got there they saw that all of the propellers had just failed and their decent continued at the previous pace.

"We need … more chakra," said Sasuke through heavy breaths.

"We don't … have more … chakra," said Sakura.

"We have to … do this," said Hinata.

"I can get more chakra," said Naruto.

_Yōkō I need help to save my friends_, Naruto thought.

_I'll give what I can_, said Yōkō.

Suddenly the chakra that Naruto was emanating turned crimson. This caused the chakra that was around his to turn a deep purple. Suddenly the air that was being pushed against the airship tripled in intensity causing the ship to lurch towards the landmass. The landmass crept closer and closer to the airship until it was just a few feet away and below. The airship slammed into the earth and skidded to a halt a half mile away from the sea.

The last of the enemy airships were racing towards the wrecked Falcon like predator to prey. The four genin collapsed from exhaustion. The group prepared for an all out battle when suddenly a small lone fighter craft came out of the clouds and shot down three airships. The other airships sent out crafts of their own and the massive firefight in the sky began anew. The lone fighter ship shot down the fighter ships with amazing ease. The remainder of the airships broke flank and retreated. The rogue fighter ship then dove towards the Falcon. The group didn't know what to expect. The pilot could have been a friend or just an enemy of their enemy. The craft landed a few yards away from the Falcon which they took as a sign of friendship. The top of the craft popped open and a man stepped out of the ship. He was dressed in a blue t-shirt and gray pants. He had on brown boots and a green overcoat. He had blond buzz cut hair.

"General Leo," muttered Terra.

"Who's General Leo?" asked Kakashi as he helped Naruto into a more comfortable position.

"He's supposed to be dead," said Sabin.

The man walked up to the Falcon and climbed up a stray rope. He hefted himself up to the ship's deck and patted down his overcoat.

"General Leo?" asked Terra.

"I'm sorry he was my brother I'm known as Edge," said the man.

"You look so much like General Leo though," said Terra.

"I heard that my twin brother had died at the hands of Kefka so I denounced my lieutenant rank in Kefka's army and began a quest of revenge," said Edge. "I saw that you were in trouble so I decided that an enemy of Kefka is a friend of mine."

"We could use all the help we can find," said Celes.

"This is nice and all really but these four need to find a place to rest and a crash site isn't the best of places," said Kakashi.

"South Figaro is a ways away but it's the closest place, we can take them there," said Edge.

With that the group collected whatever they could and left for South Figaro. Setzer left his crew to make what repairs they could with specific instructions to flee if danger approached. The battle left the group tired and the long trip to South Figaro wouldn't help much.


	30. CH30 Naruto's Labyrinth

The familiar scene of the dank labyrinth appeared before Naruto once again. This time the water was all gone. Naruto was confused about the always changing water levels in his psyche. Naruto was again in a place that he did not know. He decided to take a walk around as he had nothing that needed to be done. He was safe and so were his friends. Each turn led to another vacant hall. Little by little Naruto was mapping out the labyrinth of his mind. His footsteps echoed off the walls. He stopped before a fork in the labyrinth. The sounds of footsteps continuing on down the halls. Naruto couldn't make up his mind with those constant footstep sounds.

_Wait a minute_, thought Naruto, _I'm not moving anymore there shouldn't be any more sounds of footsteps_.

Naruto decided to take the path on the left which housed the louder sounding footsteps. The sounds of footsteps were getting louder and louder until it seemed that they were right on top of him. Naruto was a few feet from a turn when suddenly Hinata appeared from the corner.

"_Hinata what are you doing here I'm usually in here alone_?" asked Naruto.

"_Usually I don't dream of dark labyrinths but if Naruto is here I don't care_," said Hinata as she walked over to Naruto.

"_Hinata this isn't a dream_," said Naruto.

"_This dream is starting to get weird_," said Hinata.

"_I'll prove it to you_," said Naruto as he walked over to Hinata and pinched her in her arm.

"_Ow that hurt … wait that means this isn't a dream_," said Hinata.

"_Usually I'm the only one in my labyrinth_," said Naruto.

"_You've been here before_?" asked Hinata.

"_Whenever I need more strength I come here and get it_," said Naruto.

"_Hey if we haven't moved why are there still sounds of footsteps_?" asked Hinata.

"_Sounds in here echo for a long time_," said Naruto.

"_But these sound more new than old_," said Hinata.

"_Someone else might be in here_," said Naruto.

Naruto took Hinata's hand and turned back the way he came. Hinata and he walked down the halls for quite awhile before the sounds of a third pair of feet could begin to be distinguished from the constant sound of footsteps. Hinata and Naruto were going down hall after hall when the sounds of the third pair of steps changed from walking to running. Hinata and Naruto were running towards a corner as the sounds of the steps were getting louder. Just then Naruto bumped into Sakura causing Hinata to bump into Naruto. All three of them fell to the floor.

"_Why in the world would I dream of Naruto and Hinata_?" asked Sakura.

"_This isn't a dream_," Hinata and Naruto said together.

"_If it isn't a dream then what is it_?" asked Sakura.

"_I was kind of wondering the same thing_," said Hinata.

"_This is the visual embodiment of Naruto's subconscious mind_," said Yōkō.

"_Who said that?_" asked Sakura as she looked around.

"_Yōkō did_," said Naruto.

"_You've said that name before_," said Hinata.

"_Yeah when they were talking about the Kyuubi_," said Sakura.

_I wonder how long it will take for them to make the connection_, thought Naruto. An instant later shocked looks came across Hinata's and Sakura's faces. _Apparently not long_.

"_Why didn't you ever tell us_?" asked Sakura.

"_I was scared that you would have treated me like all the others who knew_," said Naruto.

"_Please do not judge Naruto based on what I did those many years ago_," said Yōkō.

"_Don't judge her either it wasn't her fault_," said Naruto quickly.

"_Come to my seal and I will explain it all_," said Yōkō.

Sakura, Hinata, and Naruto got up and maneuvered throughout the labyrinth towards the Kyuubi seal. They reached the vast room of the Kyuubi after a few minutes. The water level that had been gone had reached ankle level along the travel but the room which housed the Kyuubi was dry. The three of them sat down for Yōkō's explanation. Yōkō told Sakura and Hinata the same story that she told Naruto on his trip to the wave country. Yōkō got the same reactions out of Hinata and Sakura that she got from Naruto as well.

"_So this Kefka character tried to steal your power which caused the Kyuubi to go out of control which allowed you to achieve dominance over the two minds_?" asked Sakura.

"_That's the case_," said Yōkō.

"_So why are we here in Naruto's subconscious_?" asked Sakura.

"_When Naruto used my power to save you from crashing my chakra melded with all of your chakra_," said Yōkō.

"_If that happened why isn't Sasuke here with us_?" asked Sakura.

"_My labyrinth is huge we might not have seen him yet_," said Naruto.

"_Actually very little of my chakra melded with his so he only got a dose of power not the psychic link_," said Yōkō.

"_We were closer so more of Yōkō's chakra must have melded with us_," said Hinata.

"_Will this last forever_?" asked Naruto.

"_It might not last forever since they don't house my chakra they are only using it at the moment_," said Yōkō. "_Although over the next few days you can expect many awkward conversations_."

"_Nothing we can't handle_," said Naruto as he smiled at Sakura and Hinata. Hinata and Sakura just exchanged worried glances but smiled all the same.

"_We finished just in time_," said Yōkō.

"_What do you mean_?" asked Naruto.

"_We've just arrived at South Figaro_," said Yōkō.

"_South Whataro_?" asked Naruto.

"_It's a nice little town near the town that you were originally headed towards_," said Yōkō.

"_How do you know what the town is like_?" asked Sakura.

"_Do you not remember the story? I've been here before. Now it's time for you to wake up … Sasuke should be waking up as well_," said Yōkō.

Naruto, Sakura, and Hinata waved goodbye to the giant fox's face and woke up to find themselves in a small room. They looked at each other and then at Sasuke who was just waking up as well. All three of them smiled at Sasuke who looked back at them confused.

"What?" asked Sasuke.

"Nothing … we're just glad that we made it out of that situation," said Naruto.

"_Please don't tell him about Yōkō_," thought Naruto.

"_Okay_," thought Hinata and Sakura.

"Today's gonna be a good day I can feel it," said Naruto as he stretched.

The four of them patted themselves down and got ready for the day ahead of them. They would need to talk to Kakashi and the rest of the group but as for now everything seemed fine.


	31. CH31 South Figaro

Naruto, Hinata, Sakura, and Sasuke walked out of their room and down the stairs to an open dining area. The room was devoid of people save for Raxoll and Kakashi who were sitting at a table having a quiet discussion. The four of them walked over to the table and Raxoll looked up at them, Kakashi turned around and looked at them as well.

"Ah you're awake that's good," said Kakashi as he turned back to Raxoll.

"The others should be here shortly they just went to the airship a few hours ago to check on the repairs," said Raxoll.

"How long were we out of it?" asked Naruto.

"Not long … maybe a day and a half," said Raxoll.

"That's kind of long to me," said Naruto.

"You don't need to get annoyed Naruto," said Raxoll.

"Who said I was getting annoyed?" asked Naruto who started to get annoyed at that.

"Hey now calm down Naruto," said Kakashi.

"Whatever," said Naruto as he waved off the subject.

"As I was saying earlier it's probably best if I show you the pass that we'll need to take on the town's map before we go," Raxoll said to Kakashi.

"Let's go then," said Kakashi.

"Can we come?" asked Naruto.

"You four need to rest," said Raxoll.

"Aww c'mon," said Naruto.

"He's right Naruto … if you do too much too soon you could wind up hurting yourself in a more permanent way," said Kakashi.

"All right," said Naruto as he slumped into a nearby chair.

"Where are we anyway?" asked Sakura as she looked around.

The room was dimly lit save for candles on peg hooks on the support beams of the building. The room was quite large and had a fireplace at one end. The fire was out and the embers of a recent fire could be seen. Many tables and chairs could be seen strewn about the large room as if people frequented the building. At one end a long bar was seen. The bar had a few large barrels of the local alcohol in it. The bar tender, though, was not seen. The candles weren't lit because it was day outside but because of the grimy windows it looked like dusk.

"This is the South Figaro Inn," said Raxoll as we waved a hand dismally about the room.

"What happened to it?" asked Sasuke.

"Terra said that because of Kefka's rule the town hasn't been it's usual self," said Kakashi.

"That sucks," said Naruto.

"That's why our mission is so important," said Raxoll. "We need liberate the world of that sicko's reign."

"Which is why you wanted to show me that map of the pass," said Kakashi.

"Which means we must leave to the Item Shop," said Raxoll.

Kakashi and Raxoll then left the room and walked down the road towards the item shop. Sakura and Hinata took the other two seats at Naruto's table. Instead of sitting down Sasuke headed for the door.

"Umm … Kakashi-sensei said to wait here," said Hinata.

"Relax I'm not going to go far I just want some fresh air," said Sasuke as he left the Inn. The door creaked shut and silence filled the room.

"_I hate the silence_," thought Naruto.

"Why?" asked Sakura.

"Why what?" asked Naruto.

"We can hear each other's thoughts … remember?" said Sakura in a bossy tone.

"I guess I forgot," said Naruto.

"So why do you hate the silence?" persisted Sakura.

"Because it's the only thing that I listen to when I get home or when I sleep or when I wake up … it sucks," said Naruto.

"But you live in an apartment building," said Hinata. "Don't you hear the noises of the other tenants?"

"They all moved out when I moved in," said Naruto. Suddenly an image of a broken window and a note saying 'MONSTER' flashed across Naruto's mind.

"I guess images work as well," said Sakura.

"Whatever," said Naruto as he folded his arms on the table and laid his head on his arms.

"Hey Naruto-kun can I ask you something?" asked Hinata.

"What?" asked Naruto.

"About earlier this morning when you asked us not to tell Sasuke-kun about Yōkō … why did you not want us to tell him?" asked Hinata.

"Because," said Naruto.

"Because why?" asked Sakura.

"_Because the more the other kids know the higher the chance they won't like me,_" thought Naruto. "I guess I just didn't want to be alone again."

"You moron!" yelled Sakura as she hit Naruto in the head causing him to fall off his chair.

"What did you do that for!" yelled Naruto as he stood up and rubbed his head.

"C'mon we know and we still like you," said Sakura in a much gentler tone.

"I guess I should be thanking you for keeping my secret a secret so willingly," said Naruto.

"Don't worry too much about it or you'll go bald," said Sakura.

"What?" asked Naruto half laughing.

"It's something my Mom always tells me," said Sakura.

"My Father says worrying causes you to lose focus and become weak," said Hinata.

"Worrying makes you think of the people that you are worrying about. This makes you want to do something so that you don't have to worry about them. This makes you want to be stronger so that you don't always have to worry. So in the end worrying makes you stronger not weaker," said Naruto.

"Did you get that from a book or something?" asked Sakura.

"Yeah so," said Naruto.

"I thought it was nice," said Hinata.

Just then the door to the Inn opened.

"Hey, Kakashi wants us in the Item Shop to go over our plans to get to Narshe," said Sasuke as he walked into the Inn.

"Alright," said Naruto.

Naruto, Sakura, and Hinata rose from their chairs and headed out the door towards Sasuke. Naruto started to tense up at the thought of more danger ahead.

"_I've got a bad feeling about this_," thought Naruto as he and the others started off towards the Item Shop.

A/N: K folks I'm in quite a predicament. I'm a few chapters ahead already and I had a thought but I don't know if I want to follow through with it or not cuz if I do then the story will change dramatically from the original story line even though I do take the scenic route through the story line already this will have me going across the border maybe to the other continent of the story line. Anyways enough with the analogy I'm stuck trying to decide how Sakura's feelings are going to end up swaying because of the mental link. I don't know if I'm going to want her to still like Sasuke or to end up liking Naruto thus making this a slight threewayish fic ... thing ... anyways again ... what do you think about said actions.


	32. CH32 The Mysterious Enemy

A/N: I don't know if I already pointed this out but italicized text is thought text and is also the mental link between Naruto, Sakura, and Hinata.

The four of them ventured out into the village towards the Item Shop. The sun was shining bright in the sky despite the dimly lit Inn that they had just left. The state of the village wasn't much better than the state of the inside of the Inn. The buildings were old and decrepit. Some buildings were torn down for supplies to refurbish the older buildings. Others had just fallen from lack of repair. The path that the four of them were using was also in disarray. They were able to find the Item Shop a few minutes later though. The Item Shop was surprisingly well brought up. The building had a rather large sign above the door with a picture of a few glass vials on it. When they entered the building they found Kakashi and Raxoll standing over a table that had a rather large map on it. The shops owner was busy in the back stocking potions with a weird bluish liquid in them. Raxoll beckoned the four of them towards the table. The four of them then joined Raxoll and Kakashi over the map.

"As I was saying earlier the pass isn't my biggest worry as we've got troops stationed along it," said Raxoll. "It's the route that we'll need to take to get to it."

"What's wrong with how we're going to get to where we need to go?" asked Naruto.

"It's just a little dangerous," said Raxoll.

"How so?" asked Sakura.

"First of all we need to pass through the Cave of Figaro right here," said Raxoll as he pointed to a cave to the northwest on the map. "This cave is full of powerful monsters that seem to be able to use magic."

"Why is that weird?" asked Naruto.

"Ten years ago when we originally defeated Kefka we had to defeat the Warring Triad as well," said Raxoll.

"The Warring Triad?" asked Hinata.

"The Warring Triad were three mythical beings that governed the worlds use, misuse, and neglect of magic," said Raxoll. "They were known as Doom, Goddess and, Poltergeist. Doom governed over the destructive magic of the world, Goddess governed over the restorative magic of the world, and Poltergeist governed over the supportive magic of the world. Together they kept the magic in check not giving out too much and not holding back too much."

"Almost like gods," said Naruto.

"Not just like gods," said Raxoll. "They were gods, when we defeated them the magic of the world began to die. Terra and I almost died. Terra slept much after that and I slipped into a coma. When I woke up a few months later I seemed to be able to use my powers. Terra had hers back as well."

"Were the Warring Triad brought back to life?" asked Kakashi.

"We thought that they were but there was no evidence to support that idea," said Raxoll.

"Then how did you get your magic back?" asked Sasuke.

"We never found out," said Raxoll. "We were even more surprised to find out that the Espers also returned."

"What are Espers?" asked Naruto.

"Magical beings that take on random forms according to their will and have special magical powers," said Raxoll.

"And all these magical powers are returning to the world?" asked Naruto.

"Yes which is why Kefka poses an enormous threat," said Raxoll.

"So after the cave that we have to go through what's after that?" asked Sakura.

"Sadly one of our major offensive outposts was taken over by Kefka right from the beginning of his war," said Raxoll.

"This place right here … Figaro Castle," said Kakashi as he pointed to a dot in the middle of a desert far to the north west of South Figaro past the cave in the mountains.

"Exactly," said Raxoll. "Getting past here will be quite difficult."

"What about this pass to the north of the cave's exit right here?" asked Naruto as he pointed to a pass filled with a forest along the mountains runs east away from the desert.

"That old pass … nah that's a mountain range now ever since the great cataclysm," said the Shop owner who came by and joined the group.

"So what do we do there's no other way around it to Narshe," said Naruto.

"We have to take back Figaro Castle," said Raxoll.

"I think we can help you out there," said the shop owner.

"Who's we?" asked Kakashi as the group turned to the shop owner.

The shop owner walked over to a barrel and pushed it aside. He then tapped the bottom of the floor under it three times with his shoe. Silence ensued for a few seconds then suddenly three taps came back. The shop owner tapped twice more and stepped aside. Suddenly the floor boards that were under the barrel popped up and were pushed aside by a pair of hands. Out of the floorboards popped up Edgar and a couple of Figaro soldiers. The soldiers were dressed up in red and green regal attire. A few seconds later they were all armed with auto-crossbows that shot out crossbow bolts at an amazing speed.

"Let's take back what Kefka took from us," said Edgar.

"I thought you were all at the Falcon," said Raxoll.

"Well when we heard about everything that was taken over we went our separate ways to get back what was taken from us," said Edgar.

"Shouldn't Sabin be here too then?" asked Raxoll.

"He went with Duncan to clear out Mt. Kolts," said Edgar.

"Who's Duncan and what's Mt. Kolts?" asked Kakashi.

"Duncan is Sabin's master and Mt. Kolts was where they trained together," said Raxoll.

"Well then I guess we go take back the castle," said Naruto.

The group now consisted of Kakashi, Raxoll, Naruto, Sasuke, Hinata, Sakura, Edgar, and three Figaro soldiers. They headed out of the Item Shop, and proceeded North West towards the castle. They met some small monsters along the way. They dispatched them quickly and continued on towards the cave. The scenery on the way to the cave was much nicer than the town exhibited. The grass below was full and blowing in a gentle breeze. There were random trees every now and then that were blowing in the breeze. You really couldn't tell that a maniacal dictator was taking over the world. They reached the cave in a few hours and noticed something unsettling. There were two guards on either side of the cave entrance and a soldier piloting a megitek armor suit.

"That's not good," said Raxoll.

"Why's that?" asked Naruto.

"Megitek armor usually comes with a radio that they could signal the castle with," said Edgar.

"I can take them out quickly," said Naruto.

"They've also got built in radar scanners, you'll be spotted long before you get in range for an attack.

"They can't detect what they can't see," said Naruto as he formed the snake seal for a jutsu. "Daton." With that Naruto melded with the ground.

"Where did he go?" asked one of the soldiers.

"Just watch those enemy soldiers," said Sakura.

The group stared fixatedly at the enemy soldiers. They were motionless, not wanting to miss a thing, including the enemy.

"That's odd," said Edgar.

"What is it sir?" said a soldier.

"They aren't even patrolling," said Edgar.

"Maybe they think they don't need to," said a shorter soldier.

A few minutes passed and Naruto surfaced in front of the soldiers.

"What is that idiot doing?" asked Sasuke in a hushed yell.

"_Naruto what's wrong_?" asked Sakura.

"_This is really creepy_," said Naruto.

"_What is_?" asked Hinata.

"_These soldiers are all skeleton and armor_," said Naruto.

"_What do you mean_?" asked Hinata.

"_This smell is horrid I think I'm gonna puke_," said Naruto.

"Something's wrong," said Sakura.

"How do you know?" asked Raxoll.

"Uh … If Naruto was able to show himself like that then they must already be dead," said Sakura hastily.

"_This is really scary,_" said Naruto.

"_Haven't you seen dead bodies before_?" asked Sakura.

"_Come quick you'll want to hear this_," said Naruto.

"Come on," said Sakura.

Sakura and Hinata immediately ran towards the cave entrance.

"What the?" yelled Raxoll.

The rest of the group fallowed Hinata and Sakura to the cave entrance where Naruto was. When they got there the group was treated to a significantly potent smell of rotting flesh and old blood. Naruto was right about the soldiers, they were dead at their posts. The soldiers were pinned to the wall with nothing but bones and blood in the armor. The soldier in the megitek armor had a death grip on the com with one bony finger pressed on the 'on' button. Crazed chatter could be heard coming over the radio. Screams, explosions, and ripping bodies could be heard.

"What the hell is going on in Figaro?" yelled a soldier.

"I don't know but we must find out … even the enemy doesn't deserve such a gruesome fate," said Edgar.

The group headed into the cave as the last of the chatter came over the radio. The cave was oddly silent as they walked through. Stalactites covered the ceiling of the cave. A feint water dripping sound could be heard in the distance. More and more dead soldiers were found throughout the cave.

"What could have killed these people?" asked Hinata as she sidestepped a corpse.

"We did one have an infestation of a weird tentacle monster once but we dispatched it once we found it … we might be facing something similar," said Edgar.

"Before you guys got to the cave entrance I thought I heard something about the monster being one of the enemy soldier's lieutenants," said Naruto.

"How's that possible?" asked one of the soldiers.

"I don't know but that's what I heard," said Naruto.

A few minutes later they found the exit to the cave. They walked out and found a bloody mess of armor and bones.

"This is getting really creepy," said Naruto.

"You're not scared are you?" asked Sasuke.

"Actually yeah I am," said Naruto.

"Anyone in their right mind would be," said Raxoll.

Sasuke just turned his head away from the group.

"Whatever the case we have to find out what happened at the castle," said Naruto.

The group reached the edge of the desert and saw a castle looming in the distance. There were smoke trails issuing from the castle that were distorted by the heat wave. The long trek to the castle through the desert was going to be the least of the group's worries.


	33. CH33 Calamarie in the Desert

A/N: sorry for the extremely long lapse in updates. I have been really swamped at work with lazy people who don't want to do their jobs so I usually go to sleep when I get home and also my muse had left me for a long time and is starting to inch it's way back to me so I might be updating again really soon but I'm not really sure.

The group stepped into the desert to begin their journey to the castle. They immediately succumbed to a heat wave. The temperature had to of risen at least thirty to forty degrees. Small stingray-like monsters jumped out at them but they were quickly dispatched by Edgar's autocrossbows. Shortly after the sand rays were killed an enormous skeletal monster appeared out of the ground and attacked the group. It took the combined efforts of everyone to take it down but the trip seemed to go on forever. Each step they took seemed to take them farther away from castle.

"Do you think we're caught in a Genjutsu?" asked Naruto.

"You really are an idiot aren't you Naruto?" asked Sasuke.

"What are you talking about it doesn't look like we've gotten closer so a Genjutsu is the only reason I can think of," said Naruto.

"What's a Genjutsu?" asked Raxoll.

"It's a technique that forces a person or group of people to hallucinate. Sometimes the hallucinations are so real that they can actually hurt the people affected," said Sakura.

"But that's impossible here since we are the only ninja around," said Kakashi.

"Hehe woops … forgot about that," said Naruto as he rubbed the back of his head.

"It's probably just the heat wave," said Hinata.

"Yeah the desert can get pretty hot out here," said Edgar.

"Still we'd better hurry to Figaro Castle," said Raxoll.

The group continued their trek towards the castle without encountering any more monsters. The castle began to grow larger as they neared it. Some small fires could be seen coming from the castle as well as blast marks. As they neared the castle the pungent smell of blood filled their nostrils. Soon they stood right in front of the castle. A couple more dead guards were seen on either side of the large front gate. One of the guards had a death grip on the gate's lever and it took Naruto a couple of tries to get the guards hand off of it. He had to break it just to get it off. Soon the ten of them were inside the castle. Many bloodstains were seen but no bodies were present.

"This doesn't look good," said Kakashi.

"Do you guys smell something weird?" asked Naruto.

The group shook their heads and Naruto continued to sniff the air. Raxoll sniffed at the air too.

"I think I smell it too," said Raxoll.

"It's really hard to smell but you can pick it up," said Naruto.

A few seconds later Naruto collapsed to the floor.

"Naruto!" yelled Hinata as she rushed to Naruto's side. She lifted him onto her lap and tried to wake him up.

"What's wrong?" asked Edgar hurridly.

"I don't know I can't wake him up," said Hinata as her voice began to crack and tears welled up in her eyes.

"It's this smell … it's making me dizzy," said Raxoll as he fell to one knee.

"We've got to get out of here," said Sakura as she rounded for the door.

The castle doors were barred by a strange tentacle which prevented their escape.

"How will we get out?" yelled a soldier.

"Calm down I'll figure … this … o-u-t," said Edgar as he collapsed onto the floor.

Raxoll followed soon after as did the three soldiers. Sakura couldn't stand up either and she soon collapsed. The gas was getting stronger and began to work its effects on the ninja. Kakashi lifted up his forehead protector to reveal his Sharingan eye. He looked around for anything that he could attack to stop the gas but he succumbed to it before he could find anything. Sasuke soon followed and all that was left was Hinata.

"Why aren't you unconscious yet?" yelled an eerie voice.

"Who's there?" asked Hinata as she carefully laid Naruto on the floor.

"You should be unconscious not asking questions you filthy human!" yelled the eerie voice.

"What did you do to them?" asked Hinata as she began to look around the room. The veins around her eyes pulsed out and her eyes sharpened.

"What do you think you're doing filthy creature?" asked the eerie voice.

"It's a Kekkai Genkai that belongs to my clan. It's called the Byakugan it allows me to see through many solid objects and see the flow of chakra in people," said Hinata.

"Kekkai Genkai?" asked the eerie voice.

"It means blood inheritance limit meaning only people of my blood have it," said Hinata.

"Good. That means when I eat you I'll have it too!" yelled the eerie voice which then started to laugh uncontrollably.

"Why don't you stop hiding behind that drape over there and face me," said Hinata.

"As you wish girl," said the eerie voice as a nearby curtain ruffled a little as a deformed, slime covered human walked out. He had a few tentacles springing out randomly from his body. The tips of the tentacles were pointed and underneath them were numerous suction cups.

"I'll make you pay for what you did to Naruto and the others," said Hinata as she got into her fighting style. Her right arm was outstretched and her palm faced the enemy while her other arm was drawn back and her other palm also faced the enemy. Her legs gave her a sturdy defensive structure.

"I have lived a long time girl and have seen many different fighting styles," said the creature. "Yet I have never seen this one before tell me what I should call it when it's mine."

"Juuken Ryuu," said Hinata.

"More of your ill tongue," said the creature as he spit on the ground.

"Style of the open palm," said Hinata. "If you've been around so much you should have at least picked up other languages too."

"Enough of your ilk it's time for me to eat!" yelled the creature as it lunged towards Hinata.

Hinata quickly sidestepped the creature and grabbed one of its tentacles. She spun it around and threw it towards a nearby pillar. The creature however was prepared for this and grabbed a different pillar to prevent him from flying whilst grabbing Hinata's wrists with the tentacle that she grabbed. He then threw her against the pillar intended for him. Hinata hit the pillar with a sickening blow. The pillar cracked and Hinata fell onto the ground on her hands and knees. She spat out blood and quickly got up to face her target again.

"If that's all you got you won't last long against me girl," said the creature as he laughed at Hinata.

"You're right," said Hinata.

"Eh … you admit weakness … you're pitiful," said the creature as it edged it's tentacles towards Hinata.

"You're right that the fight won't last long," said Hinata as she wiped the blood from her mouth. Her hands then began to glow purple with radiating chakra.

"I'm glad that you accept defeat … my supper will be easy for me tonight," said the creature.

"Sorry but this supper of yours has decided to live for now," said Hinata as she rushed the creature.

"You little bitch!" yelled the creature as its tentacles rose up and attacked Hinata.

Hinata began slicing up the tentacles with her razor sharp chakra attacks. A mixture of green and red blood began to gush from the chopped up tentacles. The sickening smell of blood began to fill the room. The overpowering smell made the sleeping gas dissipate. Naruto and the other awoke to horrifying screams and the sounds of ripping flesh. They were just in time to see Hinata strike the finishing blow on the creature. She had jabbed the creature right in the heart with her sharp chakra attacks. The creature immediately stopped screaming and fell to the floor.

"Th-Thank … you…" said the man whom the creature had taken over. The man's head then tilted to the side and blood dripped out of his mouth onto the floor.

"Is that what attacked everyone?" asked Kakashi.

"I guess so," said Hinata. "It kept saying we were going to be its supper."

"That explains the lack of flesh anywhere," said Edgar.

"Is everyone okay?" asked Kakashi.

Everyone got up and dusted off and nodded towards Kakashi except for Naruto who was still unconscious.

"Uh … I think he's dead," muttered one of the soldiers in a scared voice.

Sakura bent over Naruto's body as Hinata came rushing over to join them. Sakura looked Naruto over and then got an annoyed look in her eyes. She got up and put her hands on her hips.

"Wake up lard ass!" yelled Sakura as she kicked Naruto in the side.

"Ow ow ow ow Sakura why did you do that?" asked Naruto.

"Because you're an idiot," said Sakura.

"But I was having such a good nap," said Naruto.

"We've got more important things to do," said Sakura.

"Right … I've got to radio in the rest of my troops and then it's off to the other side of the mountains," said Edgar.

"Hey Hinata did you kill that?" asked Naruto as he pointed to the mess that used to be the tentacle creature.

Hinata looked back towards the creature and nodded.

"This looks familiar to me," said Raxoll as he looked over the corpse of the creature.

"How so?" asked Sasuke who walked over next to Raxoll.

"Kefka used to do experiments on his soldiers like this in order to try and create hybrids like me and Terra," said Raxoll.

"So he's doing it again?" asked Kakashi.

"No … he abandoned it a long time ago when the hybrids he created couldn't be controlled," said Raxoll.

"He could have perfected the hybridization technique," said Edgar.

"Ow big words," said Naruto as he rubbed his head.

"He finally learned how to do it better you idiot," said Sakura with another annoyed look on her face.

"We need to get to Narshe as soon as possible … who knows how many more of these hybrids are running loose on the world," said Raxoll.

"Right," said the group as they began to clean up the mess in the castle.

"We should at least give these soldiers a decent burial," said Naruto.

"Why … they're the enemy," said a soldier as he began to drag a body out to the desert.

"Why do you think they fight?" asked Naruto.

"To kill," said the soldier.

"They fight for what they think is right … same as you … same as everyone," said Naruto.

"He's right … when I killed the creature, the man whom it inhabited said "thank you" before he died," said Hinata.

"The kid's right," said Edgar. "We shouldn't be heartless … let's give them a proper burial."

The group buried the bodies of the fallen empire soldiers and marked their graves with a single cross that read "Died fighting for their beliefs". The group then gave a small prayer for the fallen souls and then proceeded on inside to ready for the next part in their trip to Narshe.


	34. CH34 Onward to Figaro Desert

When the group entered the castle for the second time they were able to take a better look around without the tentacles of the monster. To their left and right they could see a pair of staircases leading down. In front of them they could see a pair of double doors.

"Where do these stairs lead?" asked Naruto.

"The one of the left leads to the submersion controls and the jails are down the one on the right," said Edgar.

"Submersion controls?" repeated Kakashi.

"Yeah, they let the castle travel underground to Figaro and back," said the taller soldier.

"Really?" asked Sakura.

"Yeah but sometimes the gears get stuck and we have to fix it," said the shorter soldier.

"That gear thing is gonna get us to Narshe then?" asked Naruto.

"That 'gear thing' is called an engine and it'll get us to the desert near Narshe," said Edgar. "We'll have to walk the rest of the way to Narshe."

"What about the rest of the group?" asked Sakura.

"They'll make it to Narshe in their own way," said Edgar.

"We should get going then," said Kakashi.

"I'll get the engine started you all get to the main hall, I'll signal when I'm going to start the submersion process," said the shortest soldier.

"Gotcha," said Naruto.

The group then headed through the double doors at the end of the entrance and found themselves in the center of Figaro Castle. There were three paths in front of the group. One path to their left, a path in front of them, and a path to their right.

"Which one leads to the main hall?" asked Sakura.

"The one in front of us does," said Raxoll.

"The one to the left leads to the inn and the royal chambers, while the one on right leads to the library and the guest quarters," said Edgar.

The group went down the center path into the main hall. The hall was spectacular. The path to the throne room was flanked by suits of armor. There were two doors on the sides of the wall about halfway down the hall. One read "Storage" the second read "Armory".

"_Figaro Castle preparing to dive all personnel get indoors_," came a voice over the intercom.

"What was that?" asked Naruto.

"Standard warning message indicating that Figaro Castle is entering submersion mode," said the tallest soldier.

Suddenly the ground began to shake immensely.

"Is this the submersion process?" asked Sakura as she grabbed hold of the wall nearest to her.

"Yes it is," said Edgar with a wicked smile.

"What's that smile for Edgar?" asked Raxoll with a laugh.

"I just remembered the time I used this on Kefka," said Edgar as he too began to laugh.

From the outside the castle's two flanking towers slid closer to the main building. All doors leading outside latched shut. The fans pushing out the hot air sealed shut and enormous drills began to extend from the castle walls. The castle then began to submerge under the South Figaro Desert.

"So how long does this trip take?" asked Naruto.

"A day if the castle doesn't get stuck on the underground path, two if it does," said Edgar.

"Two days!" yelled Naruto.

"Calm down Naruto it'll be an uneventful trip," said Kakashi, "so why are you so anxious?"

"That's exactly why," said Naruto, "I'm gonna have nothing to do for two days."

"You could always train," said Kakashi.

"I… I think I'll pass on that one," said Naruto.

"Hey if this trip is gonna last a couple of days where are we gonna sleep?" asked Sasuke.

"The floor under this one leads to a series of rooms that you guys can use," said Edgar.

"I don't remember that last time we had to use the castle," said Raxoll.

"We installed them recently because of the fact that the trip usually lasted longer than a day," said Edgar.

"So how do we get to the floor underneath this one … I don't see a staircase going down," said Sakura.

"There is a trap door in the storage that leads to the rooms below this floor," said the tallest soldier.

The group headed into the storage room. Inside the room were a lot of boxes piled up on each other. Edgar pointed to the back of the room. The group went to the back of the room to find just a small outcropping where no boxes were placed. The two soldiers grabbed a small circular handle on the floor and lifted up the trap door to reveal a small set of stairs. The group descended the stairs and found themselves in a small hallway that split off into other hallways. Every few feet there was a door that lead into a small room.

"Same roommates as before on the ship?" asked Kakashi.

"I don't see a problem with that," said Sakura as she smiled at Sasuke.

Sasuke and Sakura went into the room closest to them. Kakashi headed down the hall a short way and entered a different room. Edgar chose a room by himself as well. The two guards left down a hallway to their rooms. Raxoll entered the room behind them. This left Hinata and Naruto standing in the middle of the hallway by themselves.

"Well I guess we should go to our room," said Naruto as he led Hinata to an empty room.

The room that Naruto chose wasn't all too flashy. It had a small table, two chairs, and two beds. The light source came from a lamp that hung from the ceiling. Naruto sat on the floor for a quick second to take off his shoes. Hinata did the same and Naruto jumped onto the bed and lay down. Hinata sat on her bed. Naruto was just about to say something when Kakashi barged into the room.

"Haven't you ever heard of knocking?" asked Naruto as he glared at Kakashi.

"You two shouldn't be doing anything that would require privacy," said Kakashi.

Hinata blushed but Naruto just looked confused.

"What?" asked Naruto.

"Just get some rest we'll be arriving at Figaro Desert by the morning after next," said Kakashi.

"What ever," said Naruto as he closed his eyes.

"You too Hinata," said Kakashi.

"Okay," said Hinata.

Hinata laid down on her bed and also closed her eyes as well. Kakashi turned out the lights and left the room. Naruto and Hinata then fell asleep a few minutes later.

A/N: Oi kiddies and non-kiddies of the older variaty I have a slight dilema that I shall be asking for your input. Depending on your post/pm's (or not depending on I'm not sure yet) I was wondering about something for quite some time now ... ever since a few chapters ago and by their post date that's quite awhile. What would you guys say to a semi-haremish deal with Naruto, Sakura, and Hinata. Depending on how I go with this it might just change the story drastically (since Sakura won't be pining over Sasuke too much anymore) but if I can (which I'm slightly sure I will be able to) I should be able to work my way around that. Anyways I'll give it a week and if I don't hear anything then I'll asume you don't mind and I'll go through with what I want to do. Anyways -insert rocker fist- SNOOTCHY BOOTCHY NOOTCHIES!!

-Kunaiswarm (also affiliated as Raxoll).


	35. CH35 A Hint at the Past

A/N: This chapter is a bit grim based on my other chapters, just a little heads up.

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An hour later in the room across from Naruto's and Hinata's, Raxoll stood staring at the stone wall with a blank look on his face. He walked over to his bed and crawled under the covers. He closed his eyes as a single tear fell down his face as he remembered the screaming of countless people.

"_My ears are ringing._" said Kefka as Raxoll was reminded of the time when he was under the influence of the slave crown when he was seven.

"_Sir you told me to blow up the hospital,_" said Raxoll. "Tonight's going to be a bad night," Raxoll said to himself. He then tried to forget the memory and fell asleep. Raxoll then began to have a dream of one of his training exercises while under Kefka's control.

Raxoll was surrounded by smoke and fire. He blinked twice to try and regain his vision after the ceiling collapsed in front of him. Just then he heard a sound from his right. He turned his head to find a little boy standing there covered in ash from the fire.

"Nico run!" said a man who ran in front of the boy and pushed him to his side. The boy started to run but the door that he was reaching for caught on fire.

"Daddy!" yelled the boy as he ran back to his father.

"Why are you doing this?' yelled the man as he hugged his son and stared at Raxoll.

Raxoll did not answer but instead lifted up his hand and sent a wave of fire towards the two. The man and his son screamed in agony until a few seconds later the screams stopped.

"_I told you to blow it up not burn it down_!" yelled Kefka over a receiver in Raxoll's ear.

"Sir, yes sir," said Raxoll as he turned back the way he came. He stepped over many charred bodies of men, women, and children of all ages. He came to the door that he used to enter the building. The doors were completely charred now. Raxoll walked out to find Kefka standing outside with an angry look on his face.

"Blow it up you dog!" yelled Kefka.

Raxoll only nodded as he turned and lifted his hands again. "Vir'ednith," said Raxoll as a white light began to glow inside the building. The light grew to a high intensity until it reached a peek and a deafening explosion ripped the building apart.

"My ears are ringing," said Kefka.

"Sir you told me to blow up the hospital," said Raxoll as he turned to face Kefka.

"I suppose you did a good job," said Kefka. "Now were there any survivors?"

"A child and his father almost escaped, but I killed them," said Raxoll his face completely devoid of any emotion.

"Ooh that's bonus points Raxy-boy," said Kefka as he clapped his hands together.

"I live only to server you," said Raxoll as he walked next to Kefka and knelt down.

"Good, now I want to get back to the castle," said Kefka, "It's just too hot here." Kefka turned and began to walk towards a guardian that had been left in the middle of the road next to a burning house. Raxoll took a look around the destroyed village. No one was left alive. There were so many charred bodies everywhere. The smell of ash and burning flesh filled the air.

"I never gave you an order to look around filth, now come or I'll punish you!" yelled Kefka as he activated his guardian. Raxoll looked at Kefka but for a reason unknown to him he couldn't move. Tears were streaming down his face.

"MOVE WORM!" yelled Kefka as he powered up the guardians main cannon. A yellow beam began to form in the cannons end. An electric beam was fired directly at Raxoll. The beam hit him square in the chest. Raxoll screamed out in pain and fell onto the ground convulsing.

"You, soldier, drag that dog back into it's magitek armor," ordered Kefka to a nearby soldier that was in a guardian. The soldier jumped down and walked over to Raxoll's twitching body and dragged him over to his magitek armor. The soldier hefted Raxoll into the driver seat. The soldier strapped Raxoll in and set the armor on autopilot to follow his guardian. The two guardians and the magitek armor stomped out of the village as Kefka laughed his evil cackle.

"_Kefka, report,_" said a voice out of the intercom of the suits.

"Ghestal the village was destroyed but the slave almost broke free I'll have to modify his slave crown again," said Kefka.

"_See to it that he at least lives through it so I won't have to put out the new one yet_," said Ghestal.

"Yes sir, Kefka out," said Kefka as he cut transmission. "Why did you have to be more Esper than human. It would have been much easier on me if you were more human."

Raxoll just sat there in his armor with tears still streaming down his face.

"Sir he's crying," said the soldier.

"So, he's broken, broken things do that," said Kefka.

"Should he really be doing that?" asked the soldier.

"In a few years I'll just kill him and upgrade," said Kefka.

"Not while he's still in my brother's unit," said the soldier.

"And what's General Leo going to do about it Colonel Edge?" asked Kefka.

"He'll make sure you don't kill him," said Edge as he removed the standard imperial helmet to reveal a buzz cut haircut.

"You need to wake up Edge hiding behind your brother won't save you forever!" yelled Kefka. Kefka just kept repeating the work "Wake up" for awhile. After a few seconds the voice changed.

"Wake up, wake up, wake up," said Relm, "WAKE UP!"

With that Raxoll woke up. He looked around the room and noticed Relm, Naruto, Hinata, Sakura, Sasuke, Kakashi, and Edgar were standing in his room. They were all in various forms of sleepwear. Relm was kneeling beside his bed. Raxoll wipe his face with his hand and noticed that he had tears streaming down his face. He looked around again and saw that his nightstand had been on fire and his dresser was shattered in a million pieces on the floor.

"What happened?" asked Raxoll. "And how did you get here Relm?"

"I got here a few minutes before the dive order was issued," said Relm.

"And the room?" asked Raxoll as he rubbed his head.

"You were screaming, "Run away now!" said Relm. Then you screamed, "Noooo!" then you just kept screaming, "Stop, stop, stop, sto…"

"Enough I get it," said Raxoll as he got up into a sitting position and looked around the room. "I'll get that fixed Edgar."

"Don't worry about it we just want to know if you're okay," said Edgar.

"Just a bad dream," said Raxoll.

"Bad dreams don't have you destroying your room," said Sakura.

"Actually sometimes they do," said Naruto as he shakily raised his hand and quickly used it to scratch the bad of his head when Sakura glared at him.

"It's probably just a side effect of the slave crown," said Raxoll. "I never did actually get a good night sleep after I had it on me."

"Want me to sleep with you?" asked Relm.

Raxoll got an embarrassed look on his face and turned his head away from Relm.

"Not like that you pervert," said Relm as she punched him in the arm.

"I wasn't thinking of that either so I should be calling you the pervert, pervert," said Raxoll as he punched her in the arm.

"I think he'll be fine for tonight now so we should go back to sleep," said Edgar as he tried to hold back a laugh. The guests left Raxoll's room save for Relm.

"Well?" asked Relm.

"We haven't done that for a long time," said Raxoll.

"Well it helped back then why wouldn't it help now?" asked Relm. Raxoll was silent for a little bit. "Well?"

"I would like that very much," said Raxoll as he scooted over to let Relm into his bed.

Relm cuddled up next to Raxoll and closed her eyes. Raxoll just laid there and stared at the ceiling. Soon he heard heavy breathing from his right. He looked over to see that Relm had fallen asleep. Raxoll smiled and followed suit.

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A/N: Sorry for the extreme delay in chapters ... I just haven't really felt like writing lately I really want to continue this but everytime I open up the document for this story nothing comes out of my head and I just end up listening to my music for a little then I close the document only to have written maybe one or two sentences. But don't worry I do still have one chapter left in my inventory before I catch up to where I'm at in my story saved onto my hard drive so if anything expect that in the near future then maybe an extremely long time before the next post for this ... I might get side tracked with another story but I don't really know what'll happen.

~Kunaiswarm

P.S. as always ReadxReview.


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